Care For Fry
Betta eggs are white and can be easily spotted inside the bubble nest . To prevent cool air from entering the breeding aquarium you must cover it with glass or plastic wrap. Without this type of protection the fry can easily develop pneumonia when they swim up to the surface to test their labyrinth organ for the first time. (This normally happens when they are 5-7 weeks of age ) . Approximately 36 hours after the spawning really tiny fry will start falling out of the bubble nest and landing on the bottom of the aquarium. At this stage, the fry will look more like a black dot with a tiny tail than a miniature fish. The male will swim down to the bottom, pick up the fry, and place them back inside the bubble nest. As you can see, it is very important to let the male stay with the fry. Do not remove him until the fry is free swimming. In some cases, the male will however start eating the fry that he retrieves from the bottom and if you notice this type of behavior the male should be removed from the aquarium. It is possible for Betta fry to develop even if they have fallen down to the bottom of the aquarium, as long as there are no other fish in the tank that can eat them. Newly hatched fry will feed off their yolk sac and should not be given any addition food. When the yolk sacs are gone, you can start giving them infusoria. After roughly two to three days, the fry will be big enough to eat newly hatched brine shrimp and microworms. Feeding your fry a lot of small servings throughout the day is better than giving them a lot of food 2-3 times a day. It is very important to keep the water quality up in the breeding aquarium. The new water has to be of the same temperature as the water in the breeding aquarium, because Betta fry do not handle temperature changes well.
Food
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Water Change
- Polluted water will stunt growth, cause disease, and kill fry. Fry tanks haven't
been cycled sufficiently to handle the bacterial overload of hundreds of little fish
and their detritus, and are prone to bacterial blooms, nitrate spikes, and excess
ammonia levels. In addition, there is some evidence that fry secrete a hormone
that serves to stunt the growth of their siblings, a mechanism installed by nature
to ensure the largest and most healthy fry survive and don't have to compete for
their resources with inferior individuals.
- Wait until the fry are 2 weeks (sometimes up to a month) old before adding new
water.
- Using your handy-dandy airline tubing siphon, remove debris, detritus, and
uneaten food from the bottom of the fry tank. Be careful not to suck up fry!
Siphon into a clear container so that when you do accidentally suck up a fry,
you can see and retrieve it later. Check the container thoroughly when you are
done siphoning the fry tank. Catch the fry with an eyedropper, medicine dropper,
spoon, or brine shrimp net, and replace him in the fry tank.
- Replace the amount of water you took, and if you started with a half-filled
container, then you can either choose to fill it all the way up now, or replace a bit
more water with each water change until it is full. When the fry are very tiny, I
recommend adding new water with your airline tubing so that it is introduced
slowly and doesn't swoosh the fry around too much.
- At about 5-6 weeks, change 30-50% of the water daily . This routine maintains
good water quality and rapid growth in your bettas.
Food
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- Microworms
- Baby Brine Shrimp
- Vinegar Eels
- Egg Yolk
- Egg Tofu
- Daphnia
- Blood Worm
- High Grade Pellet / Flake / Micropellet
Water Change
- Polluted water will stunt growth, cause disease, and kill fry. Fry tanks haven't
been cycled sufficiently to handle the bacterial overload of hundreds of little fish
and their detritus, and are prone to bacterial blooms, nitrate spikes, and excess
ammonia levels. In addition, there is some evidence that fry secrete a hormone
that serves to stunt the growth of their siblings, a mechanism installed by nature
to ensure the largest and most healthy fry survive and don't have to compete for
their resources with inferior individuals.
- Wait until the fry are 2 weeks (sometimes up to a month) old before adding new
water.
- Using your handy-dandy airline tubing siphon, remove debris, detritus, and
uneaten food from the bottom of the fry tank. Be careful not to suck up fry!
Siphon into a clear container so that when you do accidentally suck up a fry,
you can see and retrieve it later. Check the container thoroughly when you are
done siphoning the fry tank. Catch the fry with an eyedropper, medicine dropper,
spoon, or brine shrimp net, and replace him in the fry tank.
- Replace the amount of water you took, and if you started with a half-filled
container, then you can either choose to fill it all the way up now, or replace a bit
more water with each water change until it is full. When the fry are very tiny, I
recommend adding new water with your airline tubing so that it is introduced
slowly and doesn't swoosh the fry around too much.
- At about 5-6 weeks, change 30-50% of the water daily . This routine maintains
good water quality and rapid growth in your bettas.