Copper Marble and Blue Dragon Spawn Log

[indjo]

IMO it's best to rest troubled males because though he looks active, spawning some how takes a lot out of them. But then again if you're really eager to get offspring from him, you have no choice but to chance it - specially if you're under a time limit.

I often "force" such males but end up artificially hatching the eggs because most of them can't take it. Sometimes I find it useful to give them a different environment before re-spawning. Eg. if you usually put them in a non planted tank with filters, try putting them in a planted tank without filters. Or if they are usually in a big tank, try putting them in a small tank...... tweak your own method of "new environment"..... and above all, try to make the breeding area as small and as shallow as possible.

IMO one of the beauty of betta keeping is that they keep you on your toes. You have to constantly try new things for certain individuals. And here your judgment is the best "indicator/tester".

I too currently have water problems - it almost wiped out my entire collection and forced me to start from scratch. My tap water is contaminated with something so I'm using rain water .... not too good for HM. I'm not producing a lot per batch but it's enough to keep me going. So don't give up! ..... almost forgot, try aging your water for at least 24 hours before use.

EDIT: my small breeding containers are usually between 5 - 7cm (not 10cm) or about 2 - 3 inches.

[DarkMoon17]

My only concern with waiting too long is my family is going to Ireland for a few days and I need the fry to be stable and willing to eat powdered food by then. In the past, my fry have typically begun accepting Atison's Fry Starter around the 3 week mark which would be right when we are leaving... I don't want my pet sitter trying to hatch brine shrimp but I guess we'll just pay her extra if she does have to. I don't want anything to happen to Senshi.

He's currently in a divided 20 gal, his section is 3 gal and it is planted. There is a filter but it is a few dividers down from him. I might be able to move things around and get him into a 2.5 gal tank so he can have some privacy.

I will also try dividing off the spawning section so it is a bit smaller. I'm not sure I want to go smaller than that because Senshi is a rather large betta and I think he will have trouble moving around if the water is less than 4" (he's about 3" "tall"). My other boys would be just fine with the Thai method though, maybe I will try it with Sho. I also aged the water for 24-36 hours just to be safe.

I'm sorry to hear about your water issues... It takes time to rebuild after losing your entire collection, it's wonderful that you stuck with it! I can sympathize since my parents managed to kill ALL of my breeding stock when I studied abroad for 3 months. It took me a year to get everything back up to breeding again. I hope you are able to collect enough water, I'd never be able to do that here!

Thanks Indjo~

[TequilatheBetta]

Hmmm... would you be willing to ship to Canada? I would love fry from Senshi :D He's so gorgeous, and so is the girl :)

Edit : oh, I'm sorry. I didn't read the rest before i posted!

[DarkMoon17]

No worries TequilatheBetta. I plan to respawn Senshi in a few weeks. He's a bit older now but I think he'll still manage... and the water at my apartment is much better for bettas than my current well water so hopefully the fry will survive this time. I'm not sure if I'll be able to ship to Canada but I'll look into it :)

[TequilatheBetta]

Yay! Can't wait :)