You should switch the plecos. It makes more sense to house the smaller pleco in the smaller aquarium and your pleco in her larger aquarium.
Also, just to let you know betta fry can't survive on baby brine shrimp alone :)
I'm definitely switching them. before I had been considering donating him to my the local fish specialty store, but kept procrastinating because I couldn't bear to part with him after so many years. I'm amazed my friend and I never thought of switching our plecos before :)
I just read tutorials about micro worms, and also about Infusoria, I like the idea of infusoria, but I am a little worried about knowing the difference between a good infusoria and water that will kill the fry. I might split the fry and try both ways to see which I like better.
Have you tried both ways? if so which did you like more?
I would never breed (what ever fish) in a community except with certain kinds of "suckers". Even small live bearers and small gold fish (meant as food) can destroy a whole cichlid spawn.
Why not? It's advised that fry are fed different kind of food. But they can survive with only one kind during certain periods of development.
My community tank at the time was also pretty small(number of fish, not size of aquarium), other then the parents there was my Pleco and a Jack Dempsey. I also separated the fry. I can totally see your concern, and I did loose a few fry from my pleco the first time I bread cichlids because I didn't separate them soon enough. after that first time I never had any problems as long as I left really good food so my pleco didn't eat all the eggs.
In one of the betta books I bought, the writer said you can give them baby brine shrimp. He did mention that the smaller fry might have trouble. That's just one persons opinion though.
It isn't advised to raise them solely on brine shrimp. They need a variety of foods, minerals, and nutrients as they grow.
That is like raising a baby solely on potatoes or something. Everyone needs a variety.
Also, some breeders believe that feeding too much of any protein rich food like baby brine shrimp can cause Swim Bladder Disorders in the fry.
Variety is key.
I second this, exclusive feeding of brine shrimp in the first 1-2 weeks has been showed to cause swim bladder disorder and even jaw deformities (from fry trying to eat something too big for their mouths). Fry need variety from the start to grow healthily IMO.
I agree it's better to feed a variety of food. But sometimes it's not possible and I'm just saying that it's possible to feed them exclusively with BBS for the first 2 weeks then change it in accordance to their growth.
Swim bladder disorder, IMO is caused by over eating. After you fast them, they're better. So what ever you feed can cause this disorder. And you cant really stop them from eating more than their portion. That's why I make sure that I always over feed live food so they don't need to compete for food and will only eat their share.
True, it is of course possible to feed one food exclusively. But IMO you shouldn't breed fish if you don't have the funds or ability to provide a goof variety of food. It's one thing if it was an accidental breeding, but if it is a planned breeding then the planning part should include getting plenty of different types of food. Just my opinion of course.
The general belief around brine shrimp causing swim bladder when fed to newly hatched fry is because of their size in relation to the fry and difficulty of digestion. Microworms are much easier for fry to eat and digest and are therefore far less likely to cause bloating and other disorders.
I'll definitely make sure to culture some micro worms then since it's highly recomended :) I would hate to see unhappy sick little fry. I feed my full grown bettas a bunch of different foods (tetra pellets, betta food, brine shrimp, blood worms, and the male occasionally eats a cichlid pellet) to try to keep them healthy and interested in which food I'll be giving them.
I'm going to wait to try breeding until I set up a aquarium as a breeding tank. I need to get out of the cichlid breeding mind set and into the bettas.
IMO baby brine shrimp is the best food for the first month. No other small live food has the nutrients it has...microworms and vinegar eels do nothing but keep them alive.
I agree...there are lots of good ways to feed and rear Betta fry...true, the more varied the better, however, when feeding BBS it is important to understand their life cycle in regards to nutrition they provide.....newly hatched BBS that have the yolk sac intact are highly nutritious and all the fry need for good growth and development without any health problems....but once you start feeding the BBS without the yolk sac they have very little nutrition and when you will start to see a decline in health, growth and development of the fry.....
Other than the microorganism that my tanks produce....for the first month or so my fry get only newly hatch BBS and my fry grow/develop without any health problems and once the BBS absorb the yolk sac and the fry are at least 6-8 weeks old I use a HUFA supplement on the older BBS without a yolk sac to feed the fry
The lack of HUFA in the fry diet can cause sudden death or twirling...they twirl/spin to the bottom and die....
Often you will hear of problems related to BBS feedings especially swim bladder...this is usually from poor nutrition and eating the egg casing from the BBS...it can also be non-food related from too cool/dry air above the water when the labyrinth organ is developing...that first gulp of cold dry air can do some real damage.........
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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