Fry Food... Is This A Good Plan??

He finally noticed her and is flaring quite a lot, doing his cute little wiggle dance. I’ve never seen him look so pretty before

How fun. I'm so excited for you! I'm so behind in my game. Lol. I still don't know where to move my darn breeding tank. Ugh. I absolutely LOVE your setup. He'll catch on here anytime and then call himself a goof for not seeing the female before, lol.

If you find a sheet/tablecloth or large paper to cover the tank whenever you’re active around it I’m sure the place on the desk would work

 

Do you think so? I could easily cover it with something. Hmm... I'll have to think about that. I really don't want to ruin my chances just because I put it in the wrong area. Lol. Ugh.

 

Do you think so? I could easily cover it with something. Hmm... I'll have to think about that. I really don't want to ruin my chances just because I put it in the wrong area. Lol. Ugh.

When I breed my bettas (the first test runs before I bought these guys) my little siblings came over and sat, eyes glued to the tank, during most of the process with some dark construction paper taped on to cover the bubble nest so he could work in peace and all turned out well!

She’s flaring back at him— and “following” him as he swims. It’s hard to see breeding stripes because of her unique coloration but I think they might be there!
He continues to constantly flare, and occasionally swims under the leaf to see if any bubbles have magically appeared yet.

 

That may be my only option then. It's good to hear that you've had a similar experience and it worked.

Your male cracks me up, I wonder what he's waiting for. Lol. Darn boys...

 

Do you think so? I could easily cover it with something. Hmm... I'll have to think about that. I really don't want to ruin my chances just because I put it in the wrong area. Lol. Ugh.

I just put clingfoil on top. All my tanks are in the living room (I find a fish room so unsociable), including my breeding tank (though the spot with the least amount of activity) also inhabited by six dogs. Some of the tanks are at (near) floor levels... and one of the dogs is a 24" golden retriever. The fish learn to ignore the dogs within a week or so of their arrival just as the dogs learn to ignore the fish (I've covered the floor level tanks tightly so they don't end up as drinking bowls). So activity near tanks is not necessarily a huge source of stress as long as you give the fish a little time to adjust and the activity doesn't really set of alarms (such as sudden movements against the glass or loud noises).

When I breed my bettas (the first test runs before I bought these guys) my little siblings came over and sat, eyes glued to the tank, during most of the process with some dark construction paper taped on to cover the bubble nest so he could work in peace and all turned out well!

What exactly did you cover with the paper? The side of the tank where the nest was?

AquaCaitlin
He sounds like a lazy bum, lol. Good luck with that.

 

I just put clingfoil on top. All my tanks are in the living room (I find a fish room so unsociable), including my breeding tank (though the spot with the least amount of activity) also inhabited by six dogs. Some of the tanks are at (near) floor levels... and one of the dogs is a 24" golden retriever. The fish learn to ignore the dogs within a week or so of their arrival just as the dogs learn to ignore the fish (I've covered the floor level tanks tightly so they don't end up as drinking bowls). So activity near tanks is not necessarily a huge source of stress as long as you give the fish a little time to adjust and the activity doesn't really set of alarms (such as sudden movements against the glass or loud noises).


What exactly did you cover with the paper? The side of the tank where the nest was?

AquaCaitlin
He sounds like a lazy bum, lol. Good luck with that.

I’ll admit he’s a little slow in the head... thinking of nick naming him dopey
Yup, I covered the side of the tank with the bubble nest

That may be my only option then. It's good to hear that you've had a similar experience and it worked.

Your male cracks me up, I wonder what he's waiting for. Lol. Darn boys...

“It’s going to take a lot to impress little Peachy, not just shiny scales Mister”

 

I’ll admit he’s a little slow in the head... thinking of nick naming him dopey
Yup, I covered the side of the tank with the bubble nest

Bit too late for me now but I'll definitely do that next time. He stares at me defiantly whenever I pass by to work on/feed the adjacent tanks.

 

Bit too late for me now but I'll definitely do that next time. He stares at me defiantly whenever I pass by to work on/feed the adjacent tanks.

The amount of accusation they can pack into those little eyes is quite amusing— I know that look.

He finally caught on and put about ten bubbles under the leaf. Slowly but surely…

 

Lol, this is all hilarious. I love it. I have a busy house, 6 dogs as well. 2 of which are Great Danes, so we are on the same page with the whole covering tanks at floor level-my Danes didn't like it when I caught on that they were sneaking into the bottom of my fish rack to drink out of my guppy fry tank at night..... They wouldn't do it during the day, only at night when they knew they wouldn't be caught. Lol. I hate to think how many fry I may have lost to a Dane's giant tongue...Those fish are much to curious when something goes in a tank. So needless to say, that tank is covered now.

I think I'm going to get everything transferred to my desk tomorrow and go from there.

 

Lol, this is all hilarious. I love it. I have a busy house, 6 dogs as well. 2 of which are Great Danes, so we are on the same page with the whole covering tanks at floor level-my Danes didn't like it when I caught on that they were sneaking into the bottom of my fish rack to drink out of my guppy fry tank at night..... They wouldn't do it during the day, only at night when they knew they wouldn't be caught. Lol. I hate to think how many fry I may have lost to a Dane's giant tongue...Those fish are much to curious when something goes in a tank. So needless to say, that tank is covered now.

I think I'm going to get everything transferred to my desk tomorrow and go from there.

I have two miniature Goldendoodles and my older one will just sit on my chair and stare at the tanks all day

Update: his flaring seems to have gotten a wee bit more aggressive looking, like he’s trying to attack her. Tsk tsk. She is responding with the same aggressiveness. Gonna keep them in there (with her in the contianer) overnight then move her back to her tank, condition more, then add her again if they don’t get better by tomorrow morning.

 

For some reason I missed all the notifications of late yesterday's posts!

Lol, this is all hilarious. I love it. I have a busy house, 6 dogs as well. 2 of which are Great Danes, so we are on the same page with the whole covering tanks at floor level-my Danes didn't like it when I caught on that they were sneaking into the bottom of my fish rack to drink out of my guppy fry tank at night..... They wouldn't do it during the day, only at night when they knew they wouldn't be caught. Lol. I hate to think how many fry I may have lost to a Dane's giant tongue...Those fish are much to curious when something goes in a tank. So needless to say, that tank is covered now.

I think I'm going to get everything transferred to my desk tomorrow and go from there.

Oh wow, great danes. I think I have maybe one tank high up enough that they couldn't reach it if they wanted to At least I'm safe with open top if 3ft+ of height.
O.O 6 dogs when two of them are great danes, wow... I mean, it shocks people when I tell them I have 6 dogs at home but 4 of them are toy breeds so they don't really count. The four of them together just outweigh our golden and the last one is a field spaniel, she's on the smaller end of medium size.
Meanwhile all of our dogs together might not be able to compete with one Dane, haha.
I've been a little worried about Puja (the field) finding out she can get to the fish swimming in the tanks and paw and eat at them because I'd actually have to lock them.. she is annoyingly clever, she figured out how to scale a 6ft chain link fence by climbing it like a raccoon. Or digging tunnels underneath. I don't think I can keep her out of anything if I give her a tempting enough reason to want to get in there.
And yes, they can be so clever right! It's amazing xD Our cavaliers (the toy breeds) are veterans and have figured out that if you leave a bowl with yoghurt or smt on the table, they have to lick around the spoon and touch that last because if the spoon making a ringing noise we catch on to what is happening back there and will come to snatch it from them. So we end up with bowls sparkling clean except a small, thin stripe of original content straight under the spoon.

Update: his flaring seems to have gotten a wee bit more aggressive looking, like he’s trying to attack her. Tsk tsk. She is responding with the same aggressiveness. Gonna keep them in there (with her in the contianer) overnight then move her back to her tank, condition more, then add her again if they don’t get better by tomorrow morning.

I hope it's just a courting phase...



Welp... I have good news and then bad news to ruin that xD I'm glad I set my expectations low lol. The eggs have just started hatching, an hour ago I didn't see any movement but just now I spotted little wiggling tails and they are also starting to fall and get picked up and moved back.
However... I spotted Hue doing something weird, swimming back and forth underneath the plants just away from the nest. He appeared back under the nest and I realised to my horror he has ich. Since just now, this morning there was nothing. He is still energetic and caring for the nest.. I genuinely hope the fry are still to small for the parasites to have attached to them now which would give me a whole cycle to deal with them before they turn to the fry but eh.. I hold little hope.
I've done some googling and some others have had this issue. I'm torn between turning up the temp very slowly to 86F and keeping it there (I just turned it up by one degree). or just dosing with Esha exit. It has been cited as fry safe by quite a few users but that was usually fry that was at least a few weeks old. Mine hatched today...
The upside of exit is that it treats both the free-swimming stage and the cysts themselves and only needs to be dosed for 3 days. After that all the ich will be gone just like that.
The downside is that if I'm wrong and it isn't safe, all my fry will gone instantly. Whereas I imagine at least some will live with the high temp, because I've seen people raise with at temps up to 88. But they'd run the risk of ich damage for two weeks =/ Really undecided about what is best...

Edit: Forgot to mention, my biggest worry with the raised temp is that it will most likely kill the plants in the tank and I will likely get water quality issues....
Edit#2: I've read now that people seem to have used exit on betta fry as young as a week old so I think I'm going for that. Still waiting a few hours so I can make up my mind definitively though.

 

For some reason I missed all the notifications of late yesterday's posts!


Oh wow, great danes. I think I have maybe one tank high up enough that they couldn't reach it if they wanted to At least I'm safe with open top if 3ft+ of height.
O.O 6 dogs when two of them are great danes, wow... I mean, it shocks people when I tell them I have 6 dogs at home but 4 of them are toy breeds so they don't really count. The four of them together just outweigh our golden and the last one is a field spaniel, she's on the smaller end of medium size.
Meanwhile all of our dogs together might not be able to compete with one Dane, haha.
I've been a little worried about Puja (the field) finding out she can get to the fish swimming in the tanks and paw and eat at them because I'd actually have to lock them.. she is annoyingly clever, she figured out how to scale a 6ft chain link fence by climbing it like a raccoon. Or digging tunnels underneath. I don't think I can keep her out of anything if I give her a tempting enough reason to want to get in there.
And yes, they can be so clever right! It's amazing xD Our cavaliers (the toy breeds) are veterans and have figured out that if you leave a bowl with yoghurt or smt on the table, they have to lick around the spoon and touch that last because if the spoon making a ringing noise we catch on to what is happening back there and will come to snatch it from them. So we end up with bowls sparkling clean except a small, thin stripe of original content straight under the spoon.


I hope it's just a courting phase...



Welp... I have good news and then bad news to ruin that xD I'm glad I set my expectations low lol. The eggs have just started hatching, an hour ago I didn't see any movement but just now I spotted little wiggling tails and they are also starting to fall and get picked up and moved back.
However... I spotted Hue doing something weird, swimming back and forth underneath the plants just away from the nest. He appeared back under the nest and I realised to my horror he has ich. Since just now, this morning there was nothing. He is still energetic and caring for the nest.. I genuinely hope the fry are still to small for the parasites to have attached to them now which would give me a whole cycle to deal with them before they turn to the fry but eh.. I hold little hope.
I've done some googling and some others have had this issue. I'm torn between turning up the temp very slowly to 86F and keeping it there (I just turned it up by one degree). or just dosing with Esha exit. It has been cited as fry safe by quite a few users but that was usually fry that was at least a few weeks old. Mine hatched today...
The upside of exit is that it treats both the free-swimming stage and the cysts themselves and only needs to be dosed for 3 days. After that all the ich will be gone just like that.
The downside is that if I'm wrong and it isn't safe, all my fry will gone instantly. Whereas I imagine at least some will live with the high temp, because I've seen people raise with at temps up to 88. But they'd run the risk of ich damage for two weeks =/ Really undecided about what is best...

Edit: Forgot to mention, my biggest worry with the raised temp is that it will most likely kill the plants in the tank and I will likely get water quality issues....
Edit#2: I've read now that people seem to have used exit on betta fry as young as a week old so I think I'm going for that. Still waiting a few hours so I can make up my mind definitively though.

Oh gosh! I’m not sure, I’ve never had an ich problem!
But, yay! Fry!

I’m trying to remember if any of my males have previously been aggressive while the female is in her jar and I believe I had one that was once. A little more time together should help them, though.

 

Oh my lord, of all the times. I am so sorry. There are so many mixed results with this kind of scenario. The good thing is you have no substrate, and usually everyone says to do the water changes and vacuum the substrate to try and remove them because they fall straight down to the substrate when not on the fish. So, theoretically you could somehow regularly siphon the bottom and remove more of them. Of course the fry being in the way makes this a very tedious thing, but possible. Also, I would simply use an airline tube and siphon it into a bucket and keep a hand on the line in case it needs to be kinked so fry do not get drawn in if too close. I would do it once a day and *maybe* slowly raise the temperature to 84 degrees. Bettas are said to only be able to survive at 86 degrees, and I have no idea if the fry will.

I assume this is the beginning stages of ich since you just noticed it, could you just ignore it for a couple days until dad is removed and treat him in his tank, maybe do the siphon in the baby tank, but nothing else? Then keep an eye on the babies and give them a few days or a week to gain some strength, and see if maybe they don't get the ich. If they do, then maybe heat treat or medicate after they are a week old?

That really sucks, I'm sorry that you have to deal with this, especially right now. Everything is so risky with the fry. The more I think about it I really think I would stay away from meds in the baby tank right now and maybe raise the heat a bit to slow down the reproduction of the ich even just a little bit.

 

AquaCaitlin, I'm sure they are just going through the motions. Sounds like you have a solid plan and hopefully it works out as intended. These guys are so unpredictable. Lol. have either of these Bettas been bred before?

As soon as I finish doing school with my little ones I'm going to work on the breeding tank and move it over. I'm going to keep the sponge filter in there, remove the substrate, add the flat heater(still need to find that darn thing...), throw in an Almond leaf, and some plants. I don't think I have any smaller pieces of wood that will fit in there, just larger ones in my other tanks. I'll have to double check all the tanks and see if there is something I can borrow. Still not sure which plants. The more I think about it, the more I have no idea. I'm afraid of them getting in the way of the eggs. If I l list my plant options down below that I can plop in there can you guys tell me what would be good? I'm going with zero experience with this whole betta breeding thing, ugh.

-Water Sprite
-Water Wisteria
-Hornwort(but it's super thin stuff right now)
-good sized Anubias
-Foxtail
-Cabomba
-Jungle Val
-Ludwigia Repens
-Java Moss----Someone already said no to this one before
-Rosette Swords of different sizes

It's only 5 gallons, and this is my problem. I was thinking maybe the Anubias at the bottom, and some Wisteria or Water Sprite, because it's kind of bushy for her to hide but those can float, so maybe they won't get in the way of the eggs. Betta eggs don't stick, right? That's why the male is able to tote them around everywhere and they fall from the nest, so they shouldn't stick to the plants if I'm correct in my assumption.

 

As for postphoning treatement.
It's not just a single cyst on the male though. He's covered in the stuff like he just run under the salt sprinkler. I'm 100% sure it wasn't there yesterday.
I haven't had him very long and turned the temp up for the breeding tank, so I think he might have been infected but due to his robust health I didn't notice. At the low temp I keep my bettas ich reproduces slowly... so I probably just didn't pick up on it. Now that he is stressed and tired from caring for the fry and with the higher temp, it's suddenly bloomed.
That, at least, is what I think happened.
I'm not too scared for the male (never lost an adult fish to ich, exit is an excellent treatment) and I'll also be keeping an eye on the female because logically speaking she must have been infected too? I'll take a look at her up close but pretty sure she is fine.
I don't think I would be comfortable with the constant vacuuming though. It means disturbing the tank a lot, potentially the air temp because I'd be messing with the lid (already had to just now to adjust the temp, I really want to do it as little as possible) and most of all, it doesn't really solve the problem. I can't remove a lot of the water because I don't dare more than 10-15% change (the bubble nest is also still intact and I don't want to disturb it and freak Hue out), so how many of the parasites could I realistically remove?

Most of all though, the fact that the spots appeared just now, as the fry hatched, means that there are odds that the fry already have parasites on them. Which means if I don't kill them soon, I might end up losing all of them. I don't feel I have a week's time to wait and see how it turns out.

Eh, is my reasoning. I'm glad I have a back-up male, haha, in case I end up losing all of this batch of fry. Eh like I said, I already had low expectations. I was hoping to get to the feeding stage with at least some of them so I can adjust my diet ideas though...

I'm too nervous about salt to use that (also saw someone recommend it), I think I run less risk with the temp treatment and the downsides (plant & time) are about the same.
I'm leaning more and more towards dosing with exit, I'll probably do a half dose instead of full one. The current is non-existent so the medication will probably pool at the floor and maybe that will help with the fry not being too affected by it?

 

As for postphoning treatement.
It's not just a single cyst on the male though. He's covered in the stuff like he just run under the salt sprinkler. I'm 100% sure it wasn't there yesterday.
I haven't had him very long and turned the temp up for the breeding tank, so I think he might have been infected but due to his robust health I didn't notice. At the low temp I keep my bettas ich reproduces slowly... so I probably just didn't pick up on it. Now that he is stressed and tired from caring for the fry and with the higher temp, it's suddenly bloomed.
That, at least, is what I think happened.
I'm not too scared for the male (never lost an adult fish to ich, exit is an excellent treatment) and I'll also be keeping an eye on the female because logically speaking she must have been infected too? I'll take a look at her up close but pretty sure she is fine.
I don't think I would be comfortable with the constant vacuuming though. It means disturbing the tank a lot, potentially the air temp because I'd be messing with the lid (already had to just now to adjust the temp, I really want to do it as little as possible) and most of all, it doesn't really solve the problem. I can't remove a lot of the water because I don't dare more than 10-15% change (the bubble nest is also still intact and I don't want to disturb it and freak Hue out), so how many of the parasites could I realistically remove?

Most of all though, the fact that the spots appeared just now, as the fry hatched, means that there are odds that the fry already have parasites on them. Which means if I don't kill them soon, I might end up losing all of them. I don't feel I have a week's time to wait and see how it turns out.

Eh, is my reasoning. I'm glad I have a back-up male, haha, in case I end up losing all of this batch of fry. Eh like I said, I already had low expectations. I was hoping to get to the feeding stage with at least some of them so I can adjust my diet ideas though...

I'm too nervous about salt to use that (also saw someone recommend it), I think I run less risk with the temp treatment and the downsides (plant & time) are about the same.
I'm leaning more and more towards dosing with exit, I'll probably do a half dose instead of full one. The current is non-existent so the medication will probably pool at the floor and maybe that will help with the fry not being too affected by it?

Sounds like a solid plan. Always good to have low expectations, and I failed twice before I finally figured the whole betta breeding thing out.

 

Okay so, I settled on a plan. I've seen some breeders online recommend actually raising betta fry at temps up to 82 to 84 normally. So 86 should definitely be survivable for a good number of them. I'm raising the temp slowly today. If I have a mass die-off tomorrow I'm going to assume the ich damage is already done and dose with the meds because otherwise I'll end up losing all of them anyway.

There are a good number of hatched fry though, definitely 50 at the very least. So far I've seen only 2-3 unviable ones not showing any movement, and it's possible they are still in the process of hatching as I noticed the first fry appear about 1.5-2 hours ago.

 

AquaCaitlin, I'm sure they are just going through the motions. Sounds like you have a solid plan and hopefully it works out as intended. These guys are so unpredictable. Lol. have either of these Bettas been bred before?

As soon as I finish doing school with my little ones I'm going to work on the breeding tank and move it over. I'm going to keep the sponge filter in there, remove the substrate, add the flat heater(still need to find that darn thing...), throw in an Almond leaf, and some plants. I don't think I have any smaller pieces of wood that will fit in there, just larger ones in my other tanks. I'll have to double check all the tanks and see if there is something I can borrow. Still not sure which plants. The more I think about it, the more I have no idea. I'm afraid of them getting in the way of the eggs. If I l list my plant options down below that I can plop in there can you guys tell me what would be good? I'm going with zero experience with this whole betta breeding thing, ugh.

-Water Sprite
-Water Wisteria
-Hornwort(but it's super thin stuff right now)
-good sized Anubias
-Foxtail
-Cabomba
-Jungle Val
-Ludwigia Repens
-Java Moss----Someone already said no to this one before
-Rosette Swords of different sizes

It's only 5 gallons, and this is my problem. I was thinking maybe the Anubias at the bottom, and some Wisteria or Water Sprite, because it's kind of bushy for her to hide but those can float, so maybe they won't get in the way of the eggs. Betta eggs don't stick, right? That's why the male is able to tote them around everywhere and they fall from the nest, so they shouldn't stick to the plants if I'm correct in my assumption.

I try to keep only half of the tank with plants and hiding places, leaving the other half solely for the bubble nest. Your idea for planting sounds great, just be aware that the male may move the bubble nest anywhere in the tank— despite all us humans careful planning

No, these bettas haven’t bred before, they’re 3 months old— I’m counting on this little betta guy to live up to the legacy of my males before him. He and the female are the same size (as common with HMPK) which should make it so he won’t be able to bully her as much hopefully. I’ve heard Plakats can be less aggressive when breeding then long-finned varieties, but we’ll see about that.

 

I try to keep only half of the tank with plants and hiding places, leaving the other half solely for the bubble nest. Your idea for planting sounds great, just be aware that the male may move the bubble nest anywhere in the tank— despite all us humans careful planning

No, these bettas haven’t bred before, they’re 3 months old— I’m counting on this little betta guy to live up to the legacy of my males before him. He and the female are the same size (as common with HMPK) which should make it so he won’t be able to bully her as much hopefully. I’ve heard Plakats can be less aggressive when breeding then long-finned varieties, but we’ll see about that.

Hahaha, I've heard the exact opposite about plakats Apparently they are the original fighting-bred fish, unlike the delicate long-finned show fish. Eh.
3 months they look waaaaay larger and older than that. They look more mature than my 4-month-old girl. Good breeder.

 

Hahaha, I've heard the exact opposite about plakats Apparently they are the original fighting-bred fish, unlike the delicate long-finned show fish. Eh.
3 months they look waaaaay larger and older than that. They look more mature than my 4-month-old girl. Good breeder.

It would make sense if it was the opposite— dang, I just wish it was easier to see breeding stripes on her body.
I probably won’t let them in the tank together until (at the soonest) Thursday. I’ve been introducing them off and on.
I wish I knew what their breeder fed them to get them to grow so fast... I’m jealous.

**Edit:
After watching a million videos of betta courtship to assure myself that my bettas were just flirting and not evil (lol I’ve never had my breeding pair act so ‘passionate’ before) I am sure that it is just normal courtship behavior and they will warm up to eachother.
I am planning to maybe take another inch of water out of the tank and brew some extra tannins for the water. Yum.... tannins.

 

PascalKrypt, hopefully some of the fry make it, who knows, maybe everything will work out just fine. You're probably right about the stress in the male causing it to be more noticeable all of a sudden. Poor guy. I'm going to have to do some research on the medicine. I rescued a beautiful betta from Petsmart quite a few months ago and he came home with ich. It was my first dealing with the parasite, and it didn't end well. I tried the heat treatment, and something else, but in the end we lost him. I hate those darn Betta cups... Do you know if it is safe for inverts? Usually those types of things aren't, but can always hope. I like to have different things on hand for when an emergency comes up and it sounds like you have quite a bit of experience with the Exit stuff. Fingers crossed for your babies. I would keep an eye on the female, there's really no telling who has it at this point, but hopefully she wan't around long enough to be affected.

AquaCaitlin, I am planning on trying to keep everything to one side/corner to leave them plenty of open space. I'll post pics once I am done to get everyone's approval before I put my boy in. I though Bettas weren't ready to breed until 4 months, that's all I ever read about. Darn people. Every single new thing I learn makes me realize how much more I need to learn. Lol.

 

PascalKrypt, hopefully some of the fry make it, who knows, maybe everything will work out just fine. You're probably right about the stress in the male causing it to be more noticeable all of a sudden. Poor guy. I'm going to have to do some research on the medicine. I rescued a beautiful betta from Petsmart quite a few months ago and he came home with ich. It was my first dealing with the parasite, and it didn't end well. I tried the heat treatment, and something else, but in the end we lost him. I hate those darn Betta cups... Do you know if it is safe for inverts? Usually those types of things aren't, but can always hope. I like to have different things on hand for when an emergency comes up and it sounds like you have quite a bit of experience with the Exit stuff. Fingers crossed for your babies. I would keep an eye on the female, there's really no telling who has it at this point, but hopefully she wan't around long enough to be affected.

AquaCaitlin, I am planning on trying to keep everything to one side/corner to leave them plenty of open space. I'll post pics once I am done to get everyone's approval before I put my boy in. I though Bettas weren't ready to breed until 4 months, that's all I ever read about. Darn people. Every single new thing I learn makes me realize how much more I need to learn. Lol.

Bettas choose when they’re ready... that’s one thing I’ve learned
I’d love to see pictures once you’ve set everything up!

A wee bit off topic: I can’t wait to see my male marble a bit more— I think he will get some more mettalics in.

 

Well, that's news to me. Apparently I could have started all of this way earlier, being that mine are already several months old. Lol. Always the procrastinator....

I'm sure your male will just continue to get more and more gorgeous. You have some beautiful colors already.

 

Well, that's news to me. Apparently I could have started all of this way earlier, being that mine are already several months old. Lol. Always the procrastinator....

I'm sure your male will just continue to get more and more gorgeous. You have some beautiful colors already.

I’m hoping to get at least 3 spawns in with these two (seeing as I will be selling their fry) before they turn 10 months— eep. We will see.

 

Well, then you'd better get busy. Lol. How long do you have to wait after they successfully breed to do it all over again?

 

Well, then you'd better get busy. Lol. How long do you have to wait after they successfully breed to do it all over again?

Usually about 3 weeks. They should do better their second time spawning though. No more first time parents

 

PascalKrypt, hopefully some of the fry make it, who knows, maybe everything will work out just fine. You're probably right about the stress in the male causing it to be more noticeable all of a sudden. Poor guy. I'm going to have to do some research on the medicine. I rescued a beautiful betta from Petsmart quite a few months ago and he came home with ich. It was my first dealing with the parasite, and it didn't end well. I tried the heat treatment, and something else, but in the end we lost him. I hate those darn Betta cups... Do you know if it is safe for inverts? Usually those types of things aren't, but can always hope. I like to have different things on hand for when an emergency comes up and it sounds like you have quite a bit of experience with the Exit stuff. Fingers crossed for your babies. I would keep an eye on the female, there's really no telling who has it at this point, but hopefully she wan't around long enough to be affected.

AquaCaitlin, I am planning on trying to keep everything to one side/corner to leave them plenty of open space. I'll post pics once I am done to get everyone's approval before I put my boy in. I though Bettas weren't ready to breed until 4 months, that's all I ever read about. Darn people. Every single new thing I learn makes me realize how much more I need to learn. Lol.

The brand is called esha, I swear by it. I use their cure-all, esha 2000, as a pick-me-up when I see the start of a problem (like clamped fins, lethargy, etc.) and they usually perk right back up after 1-2 days of standard dosing. It is a very light medication, as is the Exit apparently, because I've read that it is harmless to inverts and (several week old) fry, etc. Mind you! I've never actually tried this out, so I can't vouch for it but people discussing it online and the company itself in personal correspondence has told customers it is safe with more sensitive critters like scaleless fish and inverts.
I've never had a need for their other products so these are the two medications I have. I had JBL and tetra medications before, the limited experience I had with them was disappointing but that was a different issue (I tried to use them to stop my betta wipe-out back in June-July. It did nothing. But then not sure if any meds would have).
When my new arrival bettas came in, among which the girl I bred with now, I got esha 2000 for a sickly girl and it worked terrific, so I got Exit later when I had a case of ich. I'm a satisfied customer but obviously this is just anecdotal.
I've heard you Americans have way more trouble with resistant strains of various parasites and bacteria, among which ich. So not sure if it would work as well for you as it has for me. Fish antibiotics like Furan and Kanaplex are not widely (if at all) available here for non-professional consumers and we have to make do with less serious stuff.
To which I must add. Esha is a German brand. I have no idea if it is obtainable in the U.S.

Bettas choose when they’re ready... that’s one thing I’ve learned
I’d love to see pictures once you’ve set everything up!

A wee bit off topic: I can’t wait to see my male marble a bit more— I think he will get some more mettalics in.

Haha, indeed they do. Maturity onset appears to vary widely so it is not like there is a hard line. As there never is with anything, always exceptions to any rule.

I had this girl at some point, that's the kind of metallic marbling you are thinking of, or did you want a straight sheen on all the fins?

 

The brand is called esha, I swear by it. I use their cure-all, esha 2000, as a pick-me-up when I see the start of a problem (like clamped fins, lethargy, etc.) and they usually perk right back up after 1-2 days of standard dosing. It is a very light medication, as is the Exit apparently, because I've read that it is harmless to inverts and (several week old) fry, etc. Mind you! I've never actually tried this out, so I can't vouch for it but people discussing it online and the company itself in personal correspondence has told customers it is safe with more sensitive critters like scaleless fish and inverts.
I've never had a need for their other products so these are the two medications I have. I had JBL and tetra medications before, the limited experience I had with them was disappointing but that was a different issue (I tried to use them to stop my betta wipe-out back in June-July. It did nothing. But then not sure if any meds would have).
When my new arrival bettas came in, among which the girl I bred with now, I got esha 2000 for a sickly girl and it worked terrific, so I got Exit later when I had a case of ich. I'm a satisfied customer but obviously this is just anecdotal.
I've heard you Americans have way more trouble with resistant strains of various parasites and bacteria, among which ich. So not sure if it would work as well for you as it has for me. Fish antibiotics like Furan and Kanaplex are not widely (if at all) available here for non-professional consumers and we have to make do with less serious stuff.
To which I must add. Esha is a German brand. I have no idea if it is obtainable in the U.S.


Haha, indeed they do. Maturity onset appears to vary widely so it is not like there is a hard line. As there never is with anything, always exceptions to any rule.

I had this girl at some point, that's the kind of metallic marbling you are thinking of, or did you want a straight sheen on all the fins?

She’s quite lovely, but I was thinking a little more of a straight sheen on the fins. He has some now, and it’s already grown a little.

 

Usually about 3 weeks. They should do better their second time spawning though. No more first time parents

Can females carry eggs again that quickly, or are we just referring to males with that?

 

I missed your post about you watching the betta vids to reassure yourself about the uh, vigorous courtship AquaCaitlin
They are so nerve wrecking. I told someone else about it (non-fishkeeper) and then went "wait, so they are murderous fish? How the **** is that adaptable" which just made me laugh. Yeah. it isn't.

 

PascalKrypt, I already found it on Ebay, so yay, it is obtainable here. Americans have more problems than anyone, with anything. Always complicating things. Lord, even with the fish it seems. Lol. I've used Kannaplex and Furan 2 with mixed results, but tend to prefer less serious medication if possible because I always have sensitive inhabitants in my tanks. So, it sounds like it's at least worth a shot, and I will definitely add these on my list to get and try at some point. I love hearing other people's experiences with such things, it helps so much. : )

 

I'm obsessively checking on my breeding tank. Watching dad hard at work and the fry spinning around is kind of mesmerizing.
Fry were still hatching all day, there are clearly well over a hundred now.

 

Wow, that's great. I'm so happy for you. That is soooo many babies. I know they can have tons, but that's just nuts. Lol. You are going to have to post pics of the babies!

 

Wow, that's great. I'm so happy for you. That is soooo many babies. I know they can have tons, but that's just nuts. Lol. You are going to have to post pics of the babies!

They are too small for the phone the focus on them even with max zoom, but I tried anyways.
I have to say, they are significantly larger than honey fry, hahaha. Those are so small some of my family members with less-than-stellar eyesight can't even see them with their nose pressed to the tank. I've never checked on them that obsessively though, the male hides them under floating leaves and between hornwort so it is too much of a pain to find them.

Edit: had another go and got it to focus properly this time.
There are also several dozen fry hanging in the pogostemon stellata leaves just below the nest.

 

How amazing. I love it. Great job, hopefully you have hundreds of babies to tend to. : )

 

How amazing. I love it. Great job, hopefully you have hundreds of babies to tend to. : )

I am indecisive again lol. I decided to make a thread about it, somewhat hopeful someone else may have had a similar experience and has advice.

I'm starting to wonder if ich would even attach to microscopic fry, especially with the adult male as a way more attractive host still being present in the tank, the fry are smaller than most of the cysts I've seen.

 

Oh my gosh, how cute those fry are!! I finally turned off the sponge filter in my breeding tank to encourage my male to build a bubble nest.

 

Can females carry eggs again that quickly, or are we just referring to males with that?

Yup, they can carry eggs again that quickly. One of my females once laid about 200 eggs and had a full belly within two weeks. Overall, she was a stellar mom.

 

PascalKrypt -You have a good point. I'm sure someone on here must know something or have had a similar experience. Good luck!

AquaCaitlin-That's nuts. Lol. I suppose it gives us plenty of chances to get things right. So that's a bonus. I plan on leaving my sponge filter in the tank, will it need to be turned off at some point, or are you only doing this because he hasn't built a nest yet?

 

Oh my gosh, how cute those fry are!! I finally turned off the sponge filter in my breeding tank to encourage my male to build a bubble nest.

Hopefully Inferno will prove to be a better builder than he has so far demonstrated