M1 + BFF Spawn Log

[CalvinWill]

Originally Posted by bettalover2033

How exactly did you do this using an air stone? What does the air stone do or is used for?

After reading everything about cleaning breeding tanks I still thought "How hard can it be not to suck up a fry?" I sucked up 14 on my first attempt

I now use 3/16" airline tubing with a 1 inch airstone as a siphon. The airstone slows down the water flow and makes it impossible to suck up any fry. Standard airline tubing flows at about 1 gallon every 8 minutes. With the airstone it flows at 1 gallon every 20 minutes. 50 minutes total to pull out 2.5 gallons.

Originally Posted by bettalover2033

Do you keep the water level at the current level?

I am adding .5 gallons of water each day. I pull out 2.5g and add 3g of new water. I started with the standard hobbyist breeding method of 4-5 inches of water to make it easier for the male to keep the eggs in the nest. In about 10 more days the tank should be full.

Again, the fry seem to have grown over night. I counted 50 in the middle water column. a few floaters and a few belly sliders, but the majority of the fry are swimming well and growing fast.

[djembekah]

Do you have plans to re-home, or sell the fry when they are of age? I can't wait to see them grow :)

[CalvinWill]

I plan to put the best up on aquabid. I will keep 2 pair of the best fin and color for the next spawn. Some will go to friends and family, and the remainder will go to my local betta charter and for sale at local pet stores that have expressed interest.

A little early to talk about divvying them up and starting the next spawn, but I do have a plan in mind if everything goes well.

[CalvinWill]

3 weeks old.

Three weeks old today and the fry are doing great. Still growing quickly. The largest have developed their stress stripe (I am calling it "camouflage" right now) and have a blue iridescence under my flashlight. The tank is filling up slowly. The other day I noticed that I can see the fry in the tank from the kitchen. A big step when just 3 weeks ago I was getting headaches from squinting at them.

The "A Team" fish are doing great. Some of the belly sliders have taken to the middle of the water column, so they should be alright. The true runts are another story....

Saturday morning I saw my biggest fry swimming around with the head of one of the runts in his mouth. The tank is taking care of the first round of culling for me. (last picture)

I'll update with more pictures as the week goes on.

[bettalover2033]

Your fry are looking beautiful!! Oh gosh I would be grossed out by that, but in the real wild, this must happen often to get rid of the weakest fry for the largest to live. At least you don't have to take care of it *( for now )*

You are doing a great job!!

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

Keep us updated! :D

[tpocicat]

I had a fry once try to eat one if it's dead siblings, he bit off more than he could chew, had to spit it out.

[OMB]

Interested to know how things are going???

[bettalover2033]

Originally Posted by CalvinWill

After reading everything about cleaning breeding tanks I still thought "How hard can it be not to suck up a fry?" I sucked up 14 on my first attempt

I now use 3/16" airline tubing with a 1 inch airstone as a siphon. The airstone slows down the water flow and makes it impossible to suck up any fry. Standard airline tubing flows at about 1 gallon every 8 minutes. With the airstone it flows at 1 gallon every 20 minutes. 50 minutes total to pull out 2.5 gallons.



I am adding .5 gallons of water each day. I pull out 2.5g and add 3g of new water. I started with the standard hobbyist breeding method of 4-5 inches of water to make it easier for the male to keep the eggs in the nest. In about 10 more days the tank should be full.

Again, the fry seem to have grown over night. I counted 50 in the middle water column. a few floaters and a few belly sliders, but the majority of the fry are swimming well and growing fast.

This makes a bunch of sense, but how exactly do you get the debris from the floor out? It wouldn't be able to pass through the air stone. Unless you were to cut a hole through it which wouldn't make any sense.

You know how sometimes your tank bottom gets dirty with brown or a darker color...how do you clean that out with the air stone?

[CalvinWill]

I do a weekly siphon to get the debris and poop out of the tank. With the daily water changes my water doesn't have time to foul.

I will post pictures today during my cleaning. 5 weeks old yesterday and doing great.