First Spawn... so excited

[Pewmew]

Originally Posted by OregonDreamsBettas

Oh the waiting! After removing the female, the male rearranged the eggs into a big cluster. But this morning when I peaked in I can't really see any eggs! OH NO!!! He either rearranged them all over the nest again or I am looking at just bubbles and he has eaten all the eggs. I am told it can take 36 - 72 hours for the eggs to hatch so I am just holding my breath... turning blue... OMG I can't stand it! LOL

Don't panic! same thing happened to me today, but then I found the eggs eventually at a completely different place! I hate the waiting too, i'm so nervous I keep checking the eggs 1000x a day @_@ crossing finger that the spawn went okay and the eggs are actually fertilized. lol I'm panicking with you now. few more days and result will come, lets hold on :)!!

[tpocicat]

You will know for sure if there are any eggs soon enough. I used to breed cats which took about 65 days before the babies were born, so to me, a few hours is nothing LOL.
Best of luck to you and your soon to be fry.

[OregonDreamsBettas]

We have fry! They hatched this morning. YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!

Now I'm panicking about what to do next! LOLOLOL! Fish-godparenthood is so difficult!

So I just had a brain wave... my daughter and I were wondering when we should put in the first batch of brine shrimp... and I thought... if only there were a way to be sure there was infusoria in the tank... and that's when it hit me! LOL My daughter got a microscope for her birthday. So we put a drop of tank water on a slide and VOILA! Confirmed infusoria! I feel much better. So I will plan to have the baby brine shrimp ready to go on Friday and my microworm cultures should be here by Wednesday and ready to go by Thursday or Friday also.
I counted about 20 fry but I noticed a bunch are scattered all over and stuck to the plants so there could easily be more... Daddy is still doing his duty and picking them up. He looks tired!

[tpocicat]

Believe me, when they are this small, there are always more than you can see. Congratulations now the fun part starts LOL.

[OregonDreamsBettas]

Another update... the fry are free swimming today! I have assumed there is infusoria in there but I went ahead and swirled some microworms in after I removed Dad. Mom is great... back in the divided betta tank but I didn't put her back in the sorority. Dad is in a QT glass floated inside his section of the same tank. I think he's fine... he has eaten a few pellets and he's trying to figure out why he can see the whole place but he can't get to it yet!
The hornwort I put in the breeder tank fell all the pieces and it's worrying me that the decaying material will hurt the fry so I tried to syphon a little bit of it out tonight. I got 3 fry with it though. Fortunately they seemed OK so I sucked them up in an eye dropper and put them back in the breeder tank. I'll take a little more out each day but I think after this I am going to go with water sprite or something a little less messy!
I would love to post pics but because I'm using a plastic tote it's hard to get a clear pic but here are a couple...

[djembekah]

awe sweet little babies!

[BeautifulBetta]

Heehee congrats! <3 I always love looking at the little fries :) too cute!

[OregonDreamsBettas]

Another update... I counted about 40 little guys today. I siphoned off some water and topped up the tank they are in so they have more fresh water. They are so cute!!! They have doubled in size already. Its so exciting!!! I can't wait to see them grow and start getting color. In the meantime I have started some brine shrimp but so far they must be doing okay on the infusoria and micro worms I have fed them.
Thanks to everyone for all the hello and encouragement! !!

[styggian]

I think your fry are two days older than mine :D Mine hatched Wednesday.

Good luck!