Small amount of eggs

[OhNoLenX]

So had my fish fat and happy and ready to spawn after a week of eating live fruit fly maggots and they did the deed. The male is guarding the nest and found the female at the other side of the tank hiding when I removed her. She still had eggs but the male would chase her away if she came near. She would also drop a few then eat them. At the moment I'm guesstimating that I only have about 50 eggs in the nest but its really hard to tell the difference between eggs and bubble in a white styrofoam cup.

I guess I'm asking if I should have left the female in there longer to possible lay more eggs...

[indjo]

No, you did the right thing by removing her. Yes, she might have laid more eggs but on the other hand she might have gotten hurt. Better safe than sorry - with both healthy, you can always spawn them again someday.

Congrats on your spawn.

[OhNoLenX]

That's what I figured, plus I know from a past spawn that she can be a bit of an egg eater and honestly I was more worried about the eggs then her... She has the male fish pretty much whipped most other days. Would have been nice to get more eggs though.

Oh well. I'll have some baby fishy's to enjoy in the next few days to dissolve my disappointment.

[OhNoLenX]

I am happy to note that when I came home from work this evening there were about a dozen little baby fish tails sticking out below the bubble nest! Here's to hoping they all do well.

[tpocicat]

Congratulations! Now the hard part begins...

[OhNoLenX]

Originally Posted by tpocicat

Congratulations! Now the hard part begins...

Lordy I hope not... between work and a Masters degree they better become self reliant really quick, lol.

[tpocicat]

You have to keep the water as clean as possible with water changes in order for them to grow well. You will also have to feed them small amounts at least 3 times a day until they get bigger. That doesn't start to consider jarring the males etc...
Best of luck, keep up informed on how things go.

[OhNoLenX]

Originally Posted by tpocicat

You have to keep the water as clean as possible with water changes in order for them to grow well. You will also have to feed them small amounts at least 3 times a day until they get bigger. That doesn't start to consider jarring the males etc...
Best of luck, keep up informed on how things go.

Well the male is depressed because I finally took him out as he hasn't eaten in a week and the fry are just beboping around in the bubble nest with no problems. I knew he was famished as he would swim to the other side of the tank when I fed the other betta. As for food, for some reason there are quite a few microworms crawling around on the walls of the tank... I guess they got mixed in with the fruit fly larva... so they won't go hungry. Roughly I'm counting about 30-35 fry. Was a small spawn. :/

[tpocicat]

A small spawn will be easier for you to work with, which is a good thing, especially since you have so much more going on.