So I wanted a project to do this winter. I asked my husband about breeding fish and his favorite are bettas!
Back story- we had a red CT as a first fish 3 years ago. Learned about the nitrogen cycle. Swishy died shortly after we upgraded his tank. Since then, we had gotten a community tank and no bettas until this past february...
Husband and I took the kids to pick out a male and female betta. We were set out to get a crowntail pair. The healthiest ones, we said.
Looking at the cups, there were an assortment of different kinds. Plakats, halfmoons, veiltails and crowntails. Mustard gas, platinum, and other colors.
My husband picked out the feistiest male and I picked out the biggest female. All females veiltails. So be it!
Getting ready now was the hard part so I learned.
Cut to the chase.
After eating his egg brood TWICE, the third time they hatched on March 30th.
Several died. Snails and shrimp ate the bodies before I saw them. I ended up hastily throwing together a sponge filter and then things were more stable + water changes. Thank God.
The babies love hunting for worms and brine shrimp.
I didn't know if I would end up with fry, if I would have the patience for breeding this fish and so I did not want to go all out and spend 10x the price for a quality pair. If these fry make it, I think I will indeed go all out.
In other news, my last batch of bbs went bad. ?? Anyway, I had to set up a new jar and then this morning crushed up some flakes and stir them up to sink and see if my fry would take them. The biggest one did, the tiny one would not. I had some straggler bbs I was able to find and rinse for him.
And the others have enough nematodes and other creatures in the main tank to sustain them until later today hopefully.
BBS hatcheries need sanitized once in awhile, I only fill my hatchery about 1/3 full the first day and add water for the next 2 days and wash it out after I collect all the BBS on the last day
Ok so After looking at cambodian bettas online, I realized that I have no idea what Trinket's color actually is. Can anyone give me the name if this color? Her fins are orangy with a little glimmer of blue.
Also, fry are doing well. 1 is a lot lighter color than the rest.
Ok well that was quick. It appears my betta has red loss gene! That's just great! Well on the bright side, it might be fun to watch the fry be one color and then change. I wonder if it is only for red color. Apparently it is dominant. Not sure entirely what it all means. I am definitely going to spend some time reading about betta genetics 101 before I even attempt to think about breeding a new pair.
My 5 year old son wants to keep a blue betta if there are any from the fry. So far no coloring besides light brown color and dark stripe color.
I am hesitant to let the kids keep a betta- like small on their desk.
They are helping feed the fry artemia with the syringe. My 3 year old offered to cull the tiniest fry by feeding him to his mom. I declined that offer. Later he asked about the tiny fry and said he's happy he/she did not get eaten! Lol. Then fed them artemia later.
I was planning on getting them hermit crabs last year to help them learn about responsibility, but after buying a 17 gallon tank and heat lamp and reading about them, I realized that it wouldn't work. Reasons:
1) inevitable tank upgrade
2) under the sand most of the time
3) they are nocturnal
So then I was looking for small land crabs but no pet store around me has them.
Now it is a paludarium. Maybe future betta housing.
No more news. The fry look like really typical one month old fry, so not very exciting. They fight a little and my husband told me not to worry until they hit puberty. I am assuming that means coloring and flaring?
Thanks for the honesty. I guess I will just keep the updates for my family and I on this pair's fry. It will make the serious betta breeders uncomfortable here. I imagine it is like getting gas station coffee for espresso drinkers and serving it to them.
I will post when I get some koi plakat pairs or dumbo ear half moon pairs in platinum, or super-duper-man flap jacks tails. Or whatever you kids and grownups are into!
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