Pictorial Betta spawing log

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Here are a few pics of the girls at feeding time..

Here is one of the girls up close...All bent out of shape for some reason lol

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Im glad you are enjoying it... Today was a mile stone for my wee black coppers...They are officially "big fish"... They moved into the adult tank today.. I threw them a couple extra worms to get over the "home sickness"..They have been eating "big fish food" for a few weeks now and it was time to leave the cozy little spawning tank

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

New spawn

Ok, just snapped some pics of a pair "mid spawn"....

mom and dad...Gettin frisky...

Momma helping papa with the eggs... For some reason most of my females do this.

Proud papa... A bit battered, but non the worse for wear...Isnt he a pretty boy??? He seems to get nicer with age...I swear if he eats these eggs I will lose my mind...

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

A pringles lid would probably do it... I use bubble wrap sheets quite often...
The nest doesnt need to be that big...they will sometimes build "beyond" the spawning site anyway...

Here is a pic of one of the nests my cardinal builds... It extends WAY beyond the 5" long piece of bubble wrap...It was about 1" thick

It takes him about 3 days to build his "masterpiece"... He gets really snitty about it too...

And ofcourse, he cant build just one...

I think he figures he could handle about 4 women lol

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

TURQS!!! The fry guys from page 9 are colouring up nicely... Even got some turquoise PLEASE GOD LET THEM LOOK LIKE DADDY!!! I would love some marbles... Butterfly marbles would be AMAZING.

The fry from the spawn on this page ( black and blue) are doing great... Big fat bellies and lots of activity... Also have a Mustard gas spawn doing well... Just a few days old... Zipping around like out of control water bugs

The only thing I hate about fry is that they are impossible to photograph...Must be boring just hearing about it lol! I will be moving my office in the next few months... Gonna try to set up a "spawn cam" that can be logged into... That way one could actually see the process live...
Good idea?

Ofcourse you may actually catch me walking around in my jammies... Sorry folks, the price you have to pay for "live entertainment"

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Lets take a trip back....
Way back in November I spawned a pair of reds... Not the pair that you see here mind you, but a really nice pair.. I sold the spawn to a friend...Little guys were only a week old... Anyway, they have changed a bit since then lol

New fry pics to be added soon!

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Ok, I have been lazy....I took a few pics today, but im not sure if any of them are worth posting... Ill go through them now and post any that look interesting...

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Ok a few pics to amuse.... You may notice that some are starting to develop a butterfly pattern...One of my faves! Not the best pics on the planet, but not bad either...

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Apparently 7:30 pm EST is the time to photo this tank....
I call this one- YOU LOOKIN AT ME ?!?!?!

It never ceases to amaze me... Inch per inch (ok, he is a big 1/2 inch) they are the most territorial little devils I know. I have seen nice big spawns only days old cut down to a dozen or so in a few days by their siblings... Needless to say they grow like the dickens


A pretty decent close up...Notice the butterfly pattern emerging.

A few more of the "clan"

mmmm, tasty filter crud

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Culling

Yes, a very depressing topic, but a necessary evil... I culled a pile of fish this last weekend... I hate to do it (I really do) but when you have weak specimines, or ones that are deformed it must be done... I must of culled 40 and im not there yet...One can only handle so much murder in one day lol. I culled one entire spawn... Not a single baby left... now THAT sucked... I had really high hopes for that spawn, but they were all garbage....The good news is I have 5 spawns that are really growing out well...

My most predominant scourge seems to be missing ventrals...There has been a ton of debate regarding this and no one seems to have any concrete evidence...Perfectly formed fish with no ventrals is SO FRUSTRATING! SOme say it is from pH, others say genetic and still others think it is some sort of infection...I am tending to lean to the genetic angle...

Anyone have any insite? Id love to hear some theories on it...