[bwywbi]

Very nice. What do you use to keep the shoebox breeder tank warm? A heater or perhaps on a heat pad?

 

[amphirion]

Shoebox floats inside another tank, which is heated.

 

[hrutan]

It's been documented elsewhere that a microworm only diet leads to lack of pelvic fins, but microworms + something else as a diet doesn't have the same issue. While popular speculation has it that microworms promote some sort of bacteria growth that eats away at the pelvic fins, the fact that the pelvic fins develop when a secondary food is introduced, even if microworms are still fed, suggests that it is a nutritional deficiency instead.

And that came out way more dry and academic than I'd intended.

 

[MattsBettas]

I feed amounts of micro and banana worms that would make some breeders angry at me. I'm serious. For the first month of their life, they get microworms 90% of the time... And they turn out just fine. I've had one case of missing ventral fins, and that was on a fish that didn't grow properly.

I find the "nutritional deficiency" theory highly unlikely, because it shouldn't take any different nutritions to grow the ventral fins than any other fin. I just find it extremely strange that a nutritional deficiency would cause issues with the ventral fins and nothing else.

The bacteria theory makes some sense, as fry spend a lot of time at the bottom, where the worms sink to. The main issue I have with this is that it should affect the anal fin too, but I suppose the fact that anal fins develop much earlier than ventrals, which some in later, could explain this.

Either way, I never experience any issue, probably largely because I clean the bottom fairly often and have snails to do it for me in the meantime. I can sent you to some discussions we've had on the topic, if you want.

 

[amphirion]

I love dry. And I totally followed your thought. I too read an article with the same findings. I just wanted to test it out for myself. It does seem more like a nutrient deficiency/inhibitor issue vs dirty bacterial floor issues.

 

[hrutan]

Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of discussions on the topic, lol. It's probably a combination of different factors, honestly, and until someone does clinical testing with a control group, lab tools, and training on their side, we'll probably never know for sure.

There are other young fry cultures to choose from, so giving microworms a pass entirely doesn't seem like a bad plan.

Sorry, Amphirion. Didn't mean to derail your thread.

 

[arportia]

This is my first time looking at baby betta fishies and I just have to say that they are soooo adorable~look at their little eyeballs and their colored little stomachs! there are so many of them! The male sire was very beautiful and fiery, can't wait to see these little boogers all grown up!

 

[amphirion]

Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of discussions on the topic, lol. It's probably a combination of different factors, honestly, and until someone does clinical testing with a control group, lab tools, and training on their side, we'll probably never know for sure.

There are other young fry cultures to choose from, so giving microworms a pass entirely doesn't seem like a bad plan.

Sorry, Amphirion. Didn't mean to derail your thread.

no worries. all good here. my hypothesis was that it wasnt a malnutrition defect, but more of an inhibitor mechanism going on, either chemical or physical.

This is my first time looking at baby betta fishies and I just have to say that they are soooo adorable~look at their little eyeballs and their colored little stomachs! there are so many of them! The male sire was very beautiful and fiery, can't wait to see these little boogers all grown up!

thanks, i have another thread somewhere that actually logs the fry's development from egg to about 2 months...

 

[amphirion]

kids starting to apply warpaint on their faces.

 

[Alaura123]

Haha, I would love to see some of that! xD

 

[amphirion]

hard to take pics of because the tank is relatively deep now. majority are showing red like their father, but a few are either devoid of red or are faint yellow like mom. which tells me that the father is hetero for red/yellow.
war-paint right now looks copper but i hope that becomes white.

 

[Nimble]

I really hope that they turn out beautifully. If they're really good, and if I have my setup ready, I might just order one from you. Be sure to give us some pictures to tease us.

 

[amphirion]

poor photos of the kids:
with war paint...

group shot...

 

[hrutan]

They look so graceful and strong!

 

[amphirion]

thanks! jarring time is right around the door... T.T

 

[hrutan]

Have fun with that, haha. How do you heat your jars?

 

[BlueInkFish]

Beautiful!!!

 

[amphirion]

Have fun with that, haha. How do you heat your jars?

didnt have to do it with the last spawn since it was summer.

but i plan on using a circulating water system. water flows out of the plastic jars via siphons into a large plastic tub with filter media and a heater. a powerhead shoots all the water back into the jars.

 

[hrutan]

Interesting, thank you.

 

[amphirion]

update... so i've got dragons... lots of dragons. hoping the marble gene kicks in to make things a bit interesting. surprisingly enough, no white even though both parents showed it (female had white scales, male had monster pattern)--maybe it will kick in later?

was able to take a few pics of the non-reds (yellow)

male one. unfortunately has a tiny divet in his head, had to take him out so he wouldnt destroy the smaller siblings or wreck any nice females i had.

male #2

male #3, probably the best one out of the group currently as he went through branching pretty early and also already has the 180 spread, nice body to boot. his dorsal sucks though--would be nice to find a platinum female (rather have dirty platinums with steel/copper background) with a nice high dorsal to compensate, anal fin isnt pointy. considering him as a breeder for the next gen though, though that might change when a late bloomer comes around.