Round Two!! Finchy + Ruby
- Thread starter Iggy
- Start date
Little Predators
Well my little predators are doing quite fine. I have been feeding them a mixture of microworms and newly hatched baby brine shrimp (BBS).
They are really cleaning the bottom of the tank of all live food. There are quite a few BBS egg husks (shells) on the tank bottom, but I hear that will not affect the water quality (or so I hope).
Ammonia still at 0pmm so far. The fry are also about twice as big as they were shortly after they hatched, and I can see a fin-tail formation in the back starting to appear.
It is more fun to watch them now, you can see them attacking their food, grabbing it suddenly, striking at it. They are hovering around at mid level more too, so they are easier to see. I will try to get a hold of a digital camera to take picks, they just might show up.
I still think the count is somewhere between 100 and 200 fry. A good batch to start off with. I am getting a little anxious to add water, but thats why I started with a 10 gal instead of a smaller tank (TIP to all you new breeders). I might have used a 20 gal tall tank also, but my 10gal seems to be a good size.
Most breeder sites say at least 6 weeks before you add water, so does my local breeder, so who am I to argue.
Well my little predators are doing quite fine. I have been feeding them a mixture of microworms and newly hatched baby brine shrimp (BBS).
They are really cleaning the bottom of the tank of all live food. There are quite a few BBS egg husks (shells) on the tank bottom, but I hear that will not affect the water quality (or so I hope).
Ammonia still at 0pmm so far. The fry are also about twice as big as they were shortly after they hatched, and I can see a fin-tail formation in the back starting to appear.
It is more fun to watch them now, you can see them attacking their food, grabbing it suddenly, striking at it. They are hovering around at mid level more too, so they are easier to see. I will try to get a hold of a digital camera to take picks, they just might show up.
I still think the count is somewhere between 100 and 200 fry. A good batch to start off with. I am getting a little anxious to add water, but thats why I started with a 10 gal instead of a smaller tank (TIP to all you new breeders). I might have used a 20 gal tall tank also, but my 10gal seems to be a good size.
Most breeder sites say at least 6 weeks before you add water, so does my local breeder, so who am I to argue.
Need more food!
OK, these little fry are starting to eat a lot more now. I am feeding 3 times a day, before work, after work, and before bed and they are cleaning the tank of live food easily.
I have some fry that are growing faster than others too, bigger bellies so they must be better at finding the food.
I now have 3 micro-worm cultures going, and 1 BBS factory on the go at all times.
Ah, nothing like 200+ mouths to feed every day....
OK, these little fry are starting to eat a lot more now. I am feeding 3 times a day, before work, after work, and before bed and they are cleaning the tank of live food easily.
I have some fry that are growing faster than others too, bigger bellies so they must be better at finding the food.
I now have 3 micro-worm cultures going, and 1 BBS factory on the go at all times.
Ah, nothing like 200+ mouths to feed every day....
it's a lot of fun watching them eat!
for mine, some just find a way to 'hunt' worms / bbs natually by swimming closely, quietly to it, then glup!
some of them would need to move the entire body forward when they attemp to swallow! LOL
i started off having ~ 30 frys only... not sure if that was because June was too young? i think she's ~ 6 months old, and it was her first time spawning. I don't see a lot of dead / unfertilized eggs. So I'd guss she just didn't lay much
for mine, some just find a way to 'hunt' worms / bbs natually by swimming closely, quietly to it, then glup!
some of them would need to move the entire body forward when they attemp to swallow! LOL
i started off having ~ 30 frys only... not sure if that was because June was too young? i think she's ~ 6 months old, and it was her first time spawning. I don't see a lot of dead / unfertilized eggs. So I'd guss she just didn't lay much
Its kind of funny looking into my tank, lots of little white dots from afar, and up close it is a little scary seeing how many are in there!
OMG thats upwards of 90 jars to clean weekly! Egads!
Good thing I planned ahead, I have enough glass to build a 1gal barrack for each betta, so hopefully no jars, but lots of glass cuts on my fingers already!
OMG thats upwards of 90 jars to clean weekly! Egads!
Good thing I planned ahead, I have enough glass to build a 1gal barrack for each betta, so hopefully no jars, but lots of glass cuts on my fingers already!
Update!
The fry all seem to be doing well. Ammonia tests are still 0 and the fish show now signs of illness for far.
They are getting better at finding food and smarter too, they are staying near the front of the tank where most of the time I drop in their food. I spread it around, but they seem to know the right spots already.
The fry are also showing variations in size, some are still very small and thin, while others are longer and bigger bodied (big tummies too).
I feeding them three times a day, morning, 6pm and 11pm for overnighters. I think I might have to startup another BBS hatchery and another micro-worm colony soon, they are cleaning the tank between feedings!
I also helped a friend get a betta yesterday. I helped her pick-out a 3gal tank, young betta male, gravel, conditioner, food, etc.. for her new betta Winston. It is for a 10 year old boy who is staying with her, his single parent mother died just two months ago in August, and he is still very sad. My friend will be taking care of both of them, but at least the boy has a new pet to take his mind off the changes in his life.
The fry all seem to be doing well. Ammonia tests are still 0 and the fish show now signs of illness for far.
They are getting better at finding food and smarter too, they are staying near the front of the tank where most of the time I drop in their food. I spread it around, but they seem to know the right spots already.
The fry are also showing variations in size, some are still very small and thin, while others are longer and bigger bodied (big tummies too).
I feeding them three times a day, morning, 6pm and 11pm for overnighters. I think I might have to startup another BBS hatchery and another micro-worm colony soon, they are cleaning the tank between feedings!
I also helped a friend get a betta yesterday. I helped her pick-out a 3gal tank, young betta male, gravel, conditioner, food, etc.. for her new betta Winston. It is for a 10 year old boy who is staying with her, his single parent mother died just two months ago in August, and he is still very sad. My friend will be taking care of both of them, but at least the boy has a new pet to take his mind off the changes in his life.
I decided to cut down a little on the quantity of food. They have really big bellies today, from the BBS (golden tummies) mostly.
I am getting better at siphoning out BBS, so I will need to cut down on the feeding quantities now that I know they are not starving... I heard too much BBS food can cause swim bladder disease and I certainly want to avoid that.
I moved my micro-worm food containers to a warmer spot in my room, so they are growing a little faster than when I had them on the cooler floor.
Slowly learning, hoping to get the hang of this soon!
I am getting better at siphoning out BBS, so I will need to cut down on the feeding quantities now that I know they are not starving... I heard too much BBS food can cause swim bladder disease and I certainly want to avoid that.
I moved my micro-worm food containers to a warmer spot in my room, so they are growing a little faster than when I had them on the cooler floor.
Slowly learning, hoping to get the hang of this soon!
My fry are getting visitors already 
Another new betta breeder in my area was having a lot of trouble with his fry, they would hatch but would all die before they got to the free swimming stage.
He just got a new spawn a few days ago after taking a few years off, and he will be dropping by to see my setup and exchange fry food cultures (his vinegar eels for my micro worms) this Friday evening.
My fry are getting really fat and growing quickly, which is good news. I am having some trouble with having enough microworms from my 3 cultures, but my BBS factory is working quite well.
Another new betta breeder in my area was having a lot of trouble with his fry, they would hatch but would all die before they got to the free swimming stage.
He just got a new spawn a few days ago after taking a few years off, and he will be dropping by to see my setup and exchange fry food cultures (his vinegar eels for my micro worms) this Friday evening.
My fry are getting really fat and growing quickly, which is good news. I am having some trouble with having enough microworms from my 3 cultures, but my BBS factory is working quite well.
Neat , days I am looking forward to seeing soon. My royals just spawned yesterday, but the male is too funny. He sent the female, as well has himself into shock after an embrace, so the female (who snapped out of it before him), picked up the eggs and put them in the nest. I am waiting for the little buggers to hatch tomorrow.
I had problems with my microworms too. I just recultured them all from my only good one and added a lot more yeast than I usually do. Now I have 4 good cultures already! I think the problem was that I needed to add more moisture, as they kept drying out easily.
Alexa
, days I am looking forward to seeing soon. My royals just spawned yesterday, but the male is too funny. He sent the female, as well has himself into shock after an embrace, so the female (who snapped out of it before him), picked up the eggs and put them in the nest. I am waiting for the little buggers to hatch tomorrow. I had problems with my microworms too. I just recultured them all from my only good one and added a lot more yeast than I usually do. Now I have 4 good cultures already! I think the problem was that I needed to add more moisture, as they kept drying out easily.
Alexa
Fry Pictures & Video
Hey! Well, Andrew (another betta breeder in Edmonton) droped by today and we exchanged worms My micro-worms for his vinegar eels.
I also finally got my hands on my dads digital camera, so here are a few pics and the following is a short AVI video of my fry in action.
http://www.northstarwebsites.com/fish/fish-0015.avi
Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get the focus in tight enough to show detail, but I will keep trying!
10gal spawning tank picture below:
Hey! Well, Andrew (another betta breeder in Edmonton) droped by today and we exchanged worms
My micro-worms for his vinegar eels.I also finally got my hands on my dads digital camera, so here are a few pics and the following is a short AVI video of my fry in action.
http://www.northstarwebsites.com/fish/fish-0015.avi
Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get the focus in tight enough to show detail, but I will keep trying!
10gal spawning tank picture below:
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