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HM MG Spawn Preparation

1K views 20 replies 4 participants last post by  amphirion 
#1 ·
Ok... So I have a female HM MG betta coming in for my boy and I want to make sure I have everything possible right before I breed them...

I will be getting another 10 Gallon tank with heater, hood, etc... and I can pick up the 29 Gallon tank I have for a grow out tank. But what I'm concerned about is the food for the fry.
I'm thinking of having vinegar eels and microworms. I've read about issues with microworms fouling the water and I plan to address that...
The thing I am concerned about is the first meals once free swimming.
I know people use eggs mixed in tank water, but I suppose I'm a worry wart.

Can anyone explain this part of the food to me in detail to make sure I understand? Thank you very very much in advance...


...And just for fun, pictures of the pair...
** He is finishing regrowing his fins from pretty bad nipping on his way here a little over a month ago. I included his aquabid photo and a picture now. His anal fin seems to almost match now with his tail. **
 
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#4 ·
I always start them on vinegar eels the day after I see tails hanging (I know they don't need it yet, but the VE stay alive for a while) I feed them only that for about a week, then start adding one feeding of microworms. I personally don't use bbs but it's more that I don't want to set up a hatchery than anything. The microworms are great as long as you watch the water quality and wipe the bottom of the tank every time you clean it.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, I wasn't too fond of BBS to be honest... Heck, those sea monkeys I had never hatched! :evil: (I know, different eggs, shelf life, etc) That's really interesting. I might have to take that idea and run with it. Now I just have to learn how to make cultures successfully... Thank you very much. :notworthy:
 
#6 ·
no problem. I found the vinegar eels were really easy to culture. You just need a starter culture from someone and add it to a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and aged water. Throw in some apple slices and in about 2 weeks there should be a cloud of VE visible if you hold it up to the light. To harvest, use a narrow necked bottle (I use a beer bottle of my husband's that I rinsed out) and fill to where it narrows with some of the culture. Then stuff filter floss down the neck (you can put a twist tie around it to make it easier to pull out, I use the ones from my heater cords) then add tank water on top till it's full. 24hrs later the VE will have gone through the floss to get air and you can suck them out and directly into the tank for the fry.

Microworms are harder to culture, but easier to harvest. You need a starter culture from someone again to add to a medium of oats and water (baby cereal works too but spoils sooner). Make sure the oats and water are mixed well but don't leave a pool of water over them. Add the culture and feed it a sprinkling of yeast. I use normal yeast like you would for bread. It will take a week or 2 for the culture to really start producing, but then they will start to climb the sides of the container. Then you can use your finger or a q-tip (my preference) and swish it in the water to get the worms off. The MW will last for about a month before they start to smell funny so it's good to start a new one every couple weeks to keep production up and the smell down.
 
#8 ·
Actually other than splitting in case of a crash with one of them, I still have my original VE culture going that I started a year ago. I now have 6 jars of them and sell some to people in the local aquarium society. Another culture I use is grindle worms which are a little bigger for as the fry grow. I usually introduce them at around 5-6 weeks, earlier if the fry are big enough. They are also nice for conditioning the adults.

I found some cultures on AB with free shipping :):
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?foodl&1396650086
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?foodl&1396927844
 
#9 ·
Wow. That one with three different starters is very cool. I just hope I wont mess any of the cultures up before I get babies... Trying to keep worms and fry alive at once will be interesting! :lol: Only thing to figure out is serving sizes. I'm soaking up as much info as I can!
May I ask what your preference with plants in the fry tank? I've heard both ways. I would assume as long as the tank is clean, it does not matter. I just know my girls love the frogbit even though it took over the whole top of the tank before I started selling.

And by any means if I bother you with asking questions or anything, there is no need to answer. I just am unfamiliar with breeding and I don't want any future fry to suffer for it.
 
#10 ·
not at all. :) I do use plants in my fry tank. I have some java moss, hygrophila difformis (water wisteria), and regular hygrophila in my fry tanks. I would use the frogbit but I don't have any. I also have duckweed in all my tanks (not that I want it in all of them but all it takes is one piece). The fry really like to hide in the short roots.
 
#12 ·
Just to quickly but in here about vinegar eels, I love them! Absolutely painless to culture. I didn't even look at mine once for about 2 months (Provided no care whatsoever. Whoops), and when I meandered back over to their corner of the basement, the culture was stronger than ever.
 
#13 ·
I know! they are an awesome culture, no effort whatsoever after you set them up. I keep feeding them for a while to make sure the smaller fry get something too.

I have the smaller branches and they LOVE to hide in them. So much that with the MG CT spawn I have going I didn't realize how many fry were in there until I did a water change yesterday. I counted the ones that got caught in the siphon (I remove the attachment and just just the tube with the bulb to get them going. The fry get swirled around but not hurt) and I has 170+ fry! and it didn't look like I had removed any from the tank.
 
#15 ·
if the reservoirs were smaller, or if you were working on multiple breeding projects, that size would be great. personally i use a small petri dish, collect worms, add water, then use a syringe to dispense food.

i strongly suggest starting cultures about 2 weeks in advance. you want to have a surplus of food before the fry arrive. vinegar worms seem very non maintenance, but other cultures can crash if they are overpopulated, so 2 weeks seems about the best for me. you're welcome to try out even earlier. nothing worse than having to feed your fry and having nothing to feed them with because you were underprepared with foods.

if your tank is hydra free, i would also strongly suggest putting in live plants; its not only for fry hiding but the plants also provide microscopic inverts that the fry can eat right away before you have a chance to put in the worms.
 
#16 ·
That's very similar to what I do with daphnia. I'll have to try that out. And I was planning to have them ready early, just wasn't sure exactly what time frame, that will help out a lot. Also, what is hydra? I've never heard of that... I'll have to look it up.
 
#18 ·
Well, I don't want a horror story, so I'll put some live plants in... likely wisteria, frogbit, maybe an anubias, and whatever else I can grab. I do have a 20g long. Would that be good for a grow out? If so, how long should I wait until I transfer them?
 
#19 ·
Long term yes, but I would grow them in a 10 gallon just for a bit. The problem with the 20 gallon long in the initial run is food distribution. You would need to pump in 2-4 times the amount of food for the fry to get the same density and coverage as a 10 gallon to ensure the fry are being well fed.

Alternatively, you can block half the tank with a sermipermiable membrane which can be removed later as the fry get bigger.
 
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