I want to experiment.. it's how we come up with some unique, pretty bettas.. so I threw in a pair to see what I will get. Have more pairs going at it, working on a couple different lines.. but this one is a "Wonder what I would get.." pairing.
Father is a dragon HM - a little rough, but still a good boy. This is his first spawn.
Mother is a cellophane light body (part grizzle I believe) with multi colored fins. A little rough topline, but she is definitely interesting and one I want to work with on multiple spawns/mates.
I try to keep all my breeding fish conditioned, feeding lots of food that includes frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, tubifex.. feed live foods whenever I get any.. top quality pellet mix grab bag - different types such as Black Gold, NLS, Omega One, GP, etc. Also will mix in homemade food, some ingredients are shrimp, fish such as salmon or Tilapia, crab meat.. greens such as spinach, garlic and will usually ground up some pellet food to mix in as well.
2/4/13 Started carding pair - food conditioning is continuous for most part. Allow to see one another anywhere from 10-20 minutes a day while carded.
2/8/13 @ 8pm - After being carded for 4 days I set up a 10g spawn tank, female in chimney. Rubber maid small tub with some semi-small holes punched in on the lower sides, filled up the 10g until a little below the container's lip, filled up tub. Live plants include a mix of Hornwort, Brazilian Pennywort and Anacharis Narrow Leaf on the outside of the tub. Broke up a large grade A IAL leaf into the tank, and another in the tub. Temp is set at 84*F, sponge filter on low - but nest/fry are protected from current by the sides of the tub.
2/9/13 @ 11am - Let female loose into tub with male, male had made bubble nest overnight. Covered up side of tank as the pair kept watching me doing my thing with the fish surrounding them.. silly fish.. Checked in on that at around 1pm, they were both under the nest, but did not peek to see if they were doing anything due to didn't want to disrupt them.
2/9/13 @ 7pm - the pair had finished spawning roughly within the 5-7pm time frame - had not witnessed the spawning due to male being a virgin and easily distracted.
Female had been beaten up quite a bit - only some split fins, but the male had taken a big chunk out of her side (scales sticking up there), as well as a lot of sores/bites on and around her head. He was determined to get her out of the tub or kill her.. he had no mercy on the poor girl. She had the reputation of being the mean/aggressor.. but this male didn't take it from her apparently. Unsure of his condition as he won't leave the nest and I can't view him clear enough without disturbing him/the nest.
Female was removed immediately from the tub, placed in an 80* hospital tank of .33g in size, with AQ salt to keep her wounds clean. She immediately ate 7 pellets when she was placed into the hospital tank.
2/10/13 - New daddy still guarding his nest.. unable to get a clear look but from the quick glance it looks like a few dozen eggs - container not clear, nor don't want to disturb so peek was quick. Daddy still being vigilant.
Momma is doing great, ate breakfast of bloodworms and is swimming around happily. Had isolated her last night as she started to flare at a neighboring girl - will most likely let her see her neighbor/s later today. She seems to be just fine, just looks really rough.
Unfortunately since this was a virgin spawn for the boy, I kept them in the container for the spawn rather than in a glass tank.. so no pictures of the eggs/new hatch fries.. next spawn he will be in a glass tank (as long as he continue to prove he is a good daddy) so I can watch them easier :)
Pictures -
Daddy (Rex from Clone Wars hehe..)
Momma (Zahra - but nicknamed Tiger Girl),
The tank when I first released the female and before I had to cover them up so they would stop watching me.. silly fish.
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