Scarlet Badis Breeding Log

Well, I finally bred my badises!
I put the male in the tank last night and let him establish a territory. He was a little pale from netting, as he was very crafty and it took me a while to net him out. But as soon as I put the females in today, he colored right back up.
I watched for a solid half hour after introducing the females. I had heard from the females' seller that the males could worry a female to death, so I was extra vigilant.
The male was interested right away, but the females took a little convincing. One female had already been in breeding colors, but the second female colored up quite quickly when placed in the tank, and I believe this one is the same one he spawned with first. He sort of danced for her-- he would get really close to Female #1, then back away and show his colorful sides. He also chased them a little bit, but not a concerning amount. He also rapidly moved the back edge of his dorsal fin.
Finally, after about an hour and a half, Female #1 was appropriately convinced. She went to the cabomba plant and got within the leaves, and finally they spawned. At first I couldn't see any eggs fall from her like I had seen on Lowell's Fish Lab's video on YouTube, but at length I saw 1 egg drop and land on a little red plant's leaf, which is a boon for me, as I can see it very well. I used my 20x macro lens to take some pictures. Within 1 hour I could see development in the egg.
The eggs were not as small as I had been led to believe. I figured, from all the fuss about their tininess, that they would be like a grain of sand. Actually, they're probably marginally bigger than the periods on this forum, ex (.).
It took a while longer of wrapping once or twice every 10 minutes, but finally she started spraying out 4-8 eggs per wrapping event. I guess they needed a little experience!
I'm still keeping a close watch on the tank. He has not yet spawned with Female #2, who is much more interested in the brine shrimp in the water column than breeding.
Interestingly enough, Female #1 displayed dominance over Female #2 while in their own tank. #1 would chase #2 away from her territory. I wonder if "dominant breeds first" extends also to female badises? I didn't add a second male, so I don't know how it would have gone with two males instead of the one. I chose this male because he was dominant over the other male I had in the tank. I wonder if a subdominant male would have taken more convincing to breed? And I wonder if dominance equals better genetics, or simply a stronger personality. I really have no idea. It would take a much larger sample size for me to determine that.
Pictures and video to come!


Sorry the pictures are bad! I tried my best but I was a little distracted by the fish!

 

Congrats first off on finding females, they’re as rare as hens teeth over here!
Congratulations on the spawn I hope you get a decent number of fry from it, do post pics of their progress

 

Are scarlet badis hard to breed? Congrats on breeding them!

 

Are scarlet badis hard to breed? Congrats on breeding them!

I haven't found them hard to breed, but the real question is, are the fry hard to raise? I'm about to find out!

Congrats first off on finding females, they’re as rare as hens teeth over here!
Congratulations on the spawn I hope you get a decent number of fry from it, do post pics of their progress

I will take as many pictures as possible! I really want to document the whole thing. Childhood dream and all, breeding fish.
I left the females in overnight, and as I pulled an all-nighter I know that mating did not occur during lights-out.
Female #1's belly looked about empty of eggs, plus her tail has a few little rips, so I took her back to her own tank. I don't think Female #2 has bred at all, as her belly is still very swollen with eggs. I'm keeping her in under close supervision for a few more hours, then if nothing happens I'm pulling her.
In fact, I'm definitely pulling both the male and female today, but it's just a question of when. I'd like to give #2 a chance to breed, so we'll see how that goes.
I regularly check the tank-- at least once every 15 minutes. You can tell if mating is going on, because the female will stay in her chosen spot and the male will dance around her. If mating is not going on, the female is hiding and the male is patrolling the mating area.
So far #2 has shown absolutely no desire to breed, but I wonder if that's due to the presence of #1 or not. We will find out!
If the male chases #2 too much, I'll just pull them early.

 

Okay, so a few days have passed since the breeding event. The females are recuperating from the stress, and I imagine that the male is taking a victory lap.
I have daily searched the tank for eggs or fry, and even though I saw how miniscule the eggs were when they dropped from the female, I was worried that somehow they had all gotten eaten, because I couldn't see ANY.
Until today!
Here we have a newly hatched baby badis! The first picture is with a Q-tip for scale, and the last is with a newly hatched bladder snail.
Sorry for the icky glass; I had no idea it was so gross before I started looking at it through 20x magnification! But I'm sure you'll agree I have no business cleaning it until the fry are raised!

 

Are gonna feed them BBS

 

Are gonna feed them BBS

Right now, they are much too small. A BBS would be bigger than their entire head! I'm feeding microorganisms first, then microworms, then moving up to BBS when they are big enough.
I've found one more fry in the tank, and I've got a better picture of the first one!

 

Love this thread! So interesting!

How does one go about feeding microorganisms? Is that something that you culture yourself or something that is already in the tank?

 

The microorganisms were already in the tank.

Sorry for not updating! There wasn't much to say, as they completely pulled a disappearing act!
Well, two weeks old and I finally found them in the tank!
After they stopped glass-clinging, I couldn't see them at all, as the tank is so heavily planted. It took a lot of peering and some luck, but I've got a picture of one, and have seen at least 3.
They've about quadrupled in size. They're about the size of a sesame seed now!
(Pardon the snail poop, but obviously I can't siphon when they're practically microscopic lol)


They are SO SO fast when they are startled. They remind me of fleas: one second there, the next instant vanished.
I love them so much; they're adorable and already personable. Well, I'm imagining that, because they actually stay incredibly still until startled. But I love them nonetheless!

 

In response to another thread of yours, a pH of 8.2 is fine for scarlet badis.

I'd probably be tempted to purchase a female for around a quarter of the price what you are asking. I live on the other side of the pond; I'm not a prospect. Just giving you feedback.