I'm not planning to breed my bettas anytime soon, I'm just gather information on the subject for when I do.
Is it alright to not feed the fry bbs if you feed them other live foods?
My area doesnt have many Mosquitos. Will the fry be alright with a little, if any mosquito larvae?
What reasons are there to cull?
Is the clove oil method the most humane option for culling?
What sort of jars do you use to house males? Where do you get them?
How do you heat the fry jars?
How many fry usually come out of a spawn?
Is it true that the older the male the more female fry he produces?
Lets see if I can help :) Is it alright to not feed the fry bbs if you feed them other live foods?
I dont feed bbs at all I do feed other live foods and it works just great My area doesnt have many Mosquitos. Will the fry be alright with a little, if any mosquito larvae?
They will be just fine live food is live food what ever you can do for them will be great variety is always key. What reasons are there to cull?
Cull for deformeties like bent spines obvious genetic issues, sometimes swim bladder problems some people do it for fins or color if you have specific goals Is the clove oil method the most humane option for culling?
I believe it is considered the most humane... I feed to larger fish What sort of jars do you use to house males? Where do you get them?
Tupperware containers from walmart How do you heat the fry jars?
You have to heat the room usually How many fry usually come out of a spawn?
Depending on your method I have small spawns of 5-20 and larger ones of 40-60 Is it true that the older the male the more female fry he produces? I have no idea nor has that been the case for me at all
I'm not planning to breed my bettas anytime soon, I'm just gather information on the subject for when I do.
Is it alright to not feed the fry bbs if you feed them other live foods? What you feed is up to you. There are many options but BBS are the most popular because they're stocked with good nutrients.
My area doesnt have many Mosquitos. Will the fry be alright with a little, if any mosquito larvae? I've never fed my fish mosquito larvae. Usually the only people that use mosquito larvae are people who live out in the country where it is not illegal to leave standing water. There are many different food options besides mosquito larvae
What reasons are there to cull? There are many reasons to cull and it depends on what you're looking for in your fish. If you are a serious breeder looking to create a specific look and fish that meet standard you can cull for any number of things from long anals, bent spines, misaligned scales, uneven caudal edges, swim bladder issues, and any other obvious deformities. Some fish don't necessarily need to be killed... you have to make a judgement call on what caliber of fish you want to let out into the public sphere. Some breeders cull all but the best of the best, some sell their pet-caliber fish online and on pet stores, and some let everything go for sale, including very bad fish.
Is the clove oil method the most humane option for culling? Clove oil can be expensive, expecially if you have to cull a large number of fry. Feeding them to larger fish is probably the cheapest and most humane method of culling.
What sort of jars do you use to house males? Where do you get them? I use all sorts of things from 32oz plastic soup containers from chinese restaurants to plastic jars ordered from CCW plastics. I collect most of my jars from various sources like thrift stores and friends who don't want their tupper ware anymore.
How do you heat the fry jars? In the past I've floated jars in a tank filled with water and heated with a heater. Now that I have more space they'll be heated in a room with a space heater. (My bathroom)
How many fry usually come out of a spawn? There are so many factors that you can't really say. I guess a rough estimate for first time breeder is between 0-30, if you get more than that you've done a really good job. Once you get more experience anywhere from 0 to up to 300 can survive, just depends on factors like food, water quality, space, genetics, etc.
Is it true that the older the male the more female fry he produces? I don't know if there's any truth to that or not. I think that has a lot to do with the genetics of each individual fish. It's been hypothesized that environmental factors can make a fish change sex so it may have nothing to do with the parents and entirely to do with how they're raised.
I won't be breeding for perfection or Colours. I really want to avoid culling in general. If none of the deformities are to serious, would it be alright to keep them as pets?
I don't have a space heater.... Would heating lamps work?
Another question, how do you clean the fry jars? The jars I will probably use are large, but a cup won't fit in the top to scoop the fish out. Is it alright to pour the fish in a cup, rinse the jar, then add the new water, then add the fish?
For the females, could I keep all of the girls together in a tank until I found them all homes? Should they get along if kept in a sorority together?
I won't be breeding for perfection or Colours. I really want to avoid culling in general. If none of the deformities are to serious, would it be alright to keep them as pets?
I don't have a space heater.... Would heating lamps work?
Another question, how do you clean the fry jars? The jars I will probably use are large, but a cup won't fit in the top to scoop the fish out. Is it alright to pour the fish in a cup, rinse the jar, then add the new water, then add the fish?
For the females, could I keep all of the girls together in a tank until I found them all homes? Should they get along if kept in a sorority together?
What you do with your fish is up to you. My personal opinion is that unless you are breeding for a goal (to create a better fish, improve colors or keep them pure, etc) there is no reason to be breeding with all the fish that need homes already. That's just MY opinion and there are plenty of people on this board who disagree with it. Like I said before, it's all about what YOU are comfortable with letting out into society... no one else's opinions really matter.
The issue with heating lamps is it's hard to heat a large amount of jars with one lamp, plus bettas need a day/night cycle just like people. Another option to a space heater would be a heat strip that you can set the jars on. Other options are putting the jars in a larger tank and filling the tank halfway up with water and then using an aquarium heater, or just heating your house so it keeps the jars at at least 78*f. Space heaters aren't really that expensive though, especially if your collecting your supplies over a period of time.
The way I change my jars are to pour them over a fish net (over a bucket) so the fish falls into the net and the water falls into the bucket. Then I just fill the jar back up with clean water and dump the fish back in there. I use pipettes and a turkey baster to suck up waste and uneaten food before pouring out the water so no solid wastes get caught in the net with the fish.
Most females will be fine kept in a sorority, just make sure you're tank is large enough and has enough filtration. However, just like males, occasionally you will get a very aggressive female who needs to be jarred. Females intended for showing are usually jarred.
I just read about an interesting method of raising fry. On another website, someone wrote that they raised their fry with guppy fry and in result had them grow faster and switch to regular food such as pellets faster and more willingly. Have you guys ever heard of this?
I've heard of it. Not sure if I really believe it. Most of my spawns have taken to pellets quite quickly.. the ones that didn't... we'll they were natural culls.
IME... if you breed an HM to a GOOD HM female you should get a very large percentage of HM. If you go to my spawn log and look at the female I pictured.. that's a GOOD HM. When she flares her caudal fin spreads to 180 or very near it. The female has just as much, if not more influence on the fry than the male. If you breed an HM male to a HM geno female (meaning she comes from HM lines but doesn't reach 180) than you'll still get HM's... just not as many.
Another part of HM's is not only the genetics but how you raise them. They need exercise and the males need to be flared so their fins stretch out good.
As far as the guppy thing... personally I don't think it's worth it to try. I mean it won't hurt but when you think about water quality issues... I just prefer to keep unnecessary bioload out of the tank. I think OFL or Indjo would have more info on raising Bettas and guppies together.
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