AND WE ARE SPAWNING!! I think...

[Xaltd1]

How long do you think it will be b/f they're free swimming?

[Myates]

Usually only a couple of days they should all be swimming. It can take a day+ for them all to hatch.. so you will still see some vertical and some horizontal for a little bit.

[Minnieservis]

I just read this whole thread, some very helpful info here! Congrats on the babies!! It sounds like you have an awesome daddy betta :)

[Xaltd1]

Unfortunately, the whole thing crashed.
One day I had spawn, suddenly, a few hours later, there was no movement.
You can check my spawn log "Yellow Spawn".
I have NO IDEA what happened! I had a week off of work, and I monitored them as much as I could. The tank params were perfect. Mom & Dad are alive & well, thank goodness.
I'm not thinking of spawning again- too much heartache.

[MattsBettas]

Don't worry, my first few spawns failed to. Don't give up!

[Myates]

I'm sorry to hear this :(

[Minnieservis]

I'm sorry :(

[Option]

Sorry to hear what happened. But I think it's definitely worth trying again. Just give the parents time to recondition again.

[louisvillelady]

Xaltd1 I am so sorry to hear this. You were so careful and vigilant. Do not let this discourage you from trying again though. Hate to say it, but this is very typical. Not sure why, but we have all been through it. try to think of what may have happened, and avoid that next time. You may never be able to pin point what happened. May be something so minuscule and beyond your control that you may never know. Next time it may go off without a hitch. You have beautiful mom and dad there, and a tank full of them would be beautiful!

[Xaltd1]

While he was tending the nest, I fed Jack (Dad) some live blackworms. I've had the culture for weeks, and they've been rinsed and fed to all my fish (I couldn't spoil just the two parents!)with no ill effects (all of my fish are still healthy).
I thought he was hungry-looking, and I was worried that he'd snack on offspring. Maybe something in the blackworms did them in?
Also, I saw Jack take a newly hatched fish in his mouth and brought it into the nest. Are they supposed to do this? Or did he eat them by mistake?
Thank you all for your support.
What makes me uneasy about doing this again is the "live food factor". I read that deceased live food will kill your fish; or brine shrimp w/ a shell will kill them; that blackworms will kill them from the inside out-YIKES!!! I tried a "test-drive" with a microworm culture. I saw the worms crawling up the sides of the cup; I wiped them off w/ a Q-tip, and dipped it in a fish tank. The adult fish ignored the worms (that I couldn't see w/out a loupe) and I got this slimy crud in the water. Ugh! I tried the blackworms; rinsing them carefully & making sure they were alive & my fish turned into pirahnas! Then I read about the worms being able to "eat through your fish" & I stopped. When this didn't happen, I continued feeding worms to all the bettas. It is very entertaining to watch- no worm ever hit the bottom of the tank.
I'm going to toss my blackworm culture today and revert to the frozen food as supplemental nutrition. Bottom line: I can't "do" live foods, so I have no way of feeding any future fry.
P. S. I always handled the blackworms with my hands so I could see that they were alive, and fed them off my finger- yes, I still have the finger- so I'm not at all squeamish, so if there was another live food that I could examine (poke at & smell to see they're not rotten) I'd feel better.
Instead of anwering me, I think it would be AWESOME if a sticky thread were created on how exactly to raise & feed live food for conditioning parents & feeding fry. I mean a "for dummies" thread- like, what's the difference b/t a "culture" and the live food itself?