It's useless.....

[1fish2fish]

....me attempting to give up breeding that is. I just can't do it. I still won't be breeding on the scale I was but resistance is futile. So I will be raising one spawn at a time, taking breaks as I see fit, keeping the spawns under 15 jarred males and 15 females in sorority, and not holding any back unless a spot opens up.

That said I have a fresh spawn today Parents are Feisty (blue HMDT female) and Sondheim (blue/marble HM male).

Here's a few pictures of the pair. I'll get a full shot of the spawning tank soon. Its been quite a while since I used a 10 gallon tank to breed.



Sondheim was bred by Karen Mac Auley (Martinismommy). He will be 1 year old this Feb. Which goes to show that just because a fish is over 6 months does NOT mean he's to old to breed. I had never had a chance to breed him this summer due to him getting a nasty case of fin rot so I'm ecstatic that he bred so easily for me.





I got a great deal on a TON of java moss from a member of TFK, Angel079. It's absolutely gorgeous and the fish enjoyed it.



Feisty is somewhere around 6 months old and was never bred. I got her from Dragonlady who breeds the most gorgeous DT girlys She was a great breeder and besides a few tears from swimming too fast through the java moss she's unscathed.





Feisty was in love from the moment she laid eyes on Sondheim. He, however, needed a little convincing LOL


They both really enjoyed the moss..






I used a small portion of brazilian pennyworth that Angel079 was nice enough to send with my moss as the nest site.



Pics and updates to come. I expect the eggs to hatch tomorrow or Monday.

I'm expecting lots of blues, marbles, nice HMs, butterflies, and hopefully some DT in this spawn.

[BettaHeart]

they are gorgeous I started becoming more and more interested in HM since not many are sold here in town, kinda like buried treasure lol. I love .their colors, best of luck cant wait to see the babies.

[BeautifulBetta]

Awww they're so beautiful! :) good luck! <3

[vilmarisv]

YEAH! I'm sooo glad you gave in! It's hard to resist when you have a great pair such as yours in your hands.
They are stunning! The male looks just like mine does now and that female is amazing! I hope you do get DTs.

[1fish2fish]

Feisty is the main reason I wanted to spawn. She's SO nice its almost painful not to see her babies LOL plus its winter break and I need something to do.

I'm reasonably certain I'll get DTs. I'm gonna email Karen tonight and ask about his background and see if I can get an idea of how much DT he has in him. His dad was her royal import male and the female was a BOS girl.

I'm going to get a LOT of blue which is awesome since Sondheim's father was all bue and both of Feisty's parents were as well. Feisty's father comes from Seig Illigs line I believe so hopefully I'll get some really nice greens. A green butterfly would be fantastic!
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[betta lover1507]

this spawn will looks soo pretty, i love your female >.< she is soo pretty. you male seems to be using lot's of red eye liner, and white lipstick there XP he is soo pwetty to >w<
your gonna get some wonderful fries out of this spawn ;D

[Bambi]

One of the best parts of breeding and wondering exactly what colors and combos you'll get. a green butterfly would be stunning to see indeed but even a spawn of all blues would look nice. I've got a blue spawn of my own at home, but both parents were petstore fish so I really don't know what I'll get other then hopefully some royals like their dad

[1fish2fish]

Here's a few more pictures from today. No wigglers yet but it's only been 24 hours roughly. They should be here by this time tomorrow. Sondheim has moved his nest to a different pennywort leaf and doesn't appear to be eating any eggs. It looks like a small spawn but looks can be deceiving, especially since I can't get a good look at the nest.

The spawning tank. Normally I use a ~4-ish gallon bin with only about 3 gallons of water in it to spawn but I decided to go with a standard 10 this time because it's easier to light it for the plants. My guess is there's about 6 gallons of water in the tank, give or take. The temp is at 82* and there's no IAL. I decided I will wait to add IAL until the fry are bigger because it'll be easier to see them while doing water changes if the water is clear. Another thing I did differently this time is I haven't added any snails yet. I'll probably add some MTS or a mystery snail once the fry are a week or two old.


Sondheim is a very attentive dad. He's always under his nest or just near it.

[bettalover2033]

Why did I miss this LOL! Very good choice in your pair and shall I say that I have been eyeing your DT female for a LONG time and it did keep slipping my mind to ask where you got her from. I would probably choose a female DT over any fish! They are so small and look Petite that it makes you want to spoil them rotten! The DT girl coming from DragonLady explains it all. She has stunning fish and from what I see, takes very good care of them. If you aren't too busy, would you mind putting a mirror in front of Sondheim so I can get a good look at his dorsal? It looks pretty interesting to me.

Almost as much as his name does. "Sondheim".......Is that German? Where did you get that name from?

Good Luck and sorry for writing a book. Haha.

[tpocicat]

The fry are going to be gorgeous! The male and female are soooo wonderful.