Successful Betta Spawn

Third time's the charm. Thanks to this site and the Mighty Queen Pixie I have succeeded in breeding my bettas. After spending two days in the tank, under my watchful eyes, my bettas spawned the moment I left the house. Fortunately my dh got them on tape and they were "still at it" when I got home.

I don't have any Maxoy(?) but I do have some Melafix. Should I put that in the tank to keep the eggs from rotting? The male betta has proven to be a good dad and is constantly washing the eggs in his mouth. I have already removed the female and put Melafix in her tank. Fortunately, she wasn't too beat up. She just looks tired.

It was so awesome to watch. I felt like I had my own scientific experiment going on in the house. Still do, I guess. I'm looking forward to seeing how many fry hatch. We may be giving away bettas for B-days, Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Father's Day, Summer Solstice...you get the idea.

Roxie

I'll see if I can post a picture. I've never tried that before. Maybe my dh, who is more of a computer geek, will help.

Both are bettas are veil tales that I got from the LFS. That is the only type available and I'm not quite prepared to spend the $ on a more fancy pair. Although, I'm getting closer

The male is red. I was really hoping for orange but he is still pretty. The female is also red. I'm looking forward to seeing the colors develop in the fry. A few more hours and we'll see what happens!

We have fry!! The whole family is enjoying this. I just invited the neighbors to come watch the dad try to get up will all the fry falling out of the bubble nest. What a job. I think there are about 15 fry lying on the bottom of the tank. The mortality rate is higher than I imagined. How long can they lie at the bottom of the tank before they die?

I'm still attempting to post some pictures.

Here's Big Red Daddy

It's a good thing I titled this "Successful Spawn" because I might not have any "Successful Fry." Things were looking good. Daddy Betta was busy sucking up the fry and putting them back into the bubblenest. Then, yesterday, I went to run errands. When I got back the bottom of the tank was clean. No fry waiting to be scooped back up. Not a good sign. I removed Dad. Last night I thought I saw some movement within the bubblenest but I don't see anything this morning. How long will it be before I know for sure how many fry survived Dad's massacre? It happened so fast.

I am hoping for at least 10 fry to survive. Is that too much to ask?

I guess ten is too much to ask. I think my breeding is over. I saw a fry swimming around and it didn't look like it had a yolk sack left so I let my 3 yo feed it. She then tried to put the lid back on, with me helping, and it fell into the tank. It destroyed the bubblenest. I now have at least two fry, that I can see, lying on the bottom of the tank.

I told my DS that if we didn't have any surviving fry we would cycle the 10 gal tank and get some swordtails. Would I be overstocked if I put in two swordtails, 3 cories, and 6 headlights?

Off to drown my sorrows over my lost fry.

Roxie