Catching up with the Betta story

Wow it has been a while since I posted anything here. The Betta's are all grown up, and are all still alive (knock on wood). The males are in separate tanks, there ended up being only 6 of them. I have to make sure their tanks are covered or else they will jump out. This one lives in my bathroom.

I gave each of the males a snail buddy to help keep their tanks clean, they seem to be doing a pretty good job as I do not need to change the water often. I test it on a regular basis, and add more as it evaporates. This little guy is now in the kitchen next to his brother, they both seem happier with the new set up.

This little guy lives in the kitchen, I took his cover off to take his picture. These fish are quite social, and very curious. Any time I run water they get excited, and they really seem to like the TV that is next to their tanks.

I really like this size and shape of tank for the boyz, each one needs a gallon per inch so this little 2.5 gallon tank is perfect. This guy has a sponge filter instead of a snail (some of them didn't make it) to keep his tank crystal clear. (He also likes to play in the bubbles at the top)

He refused to pose for his picture. This little guy was the last to be identified as male. He had been in with the ladies up until one day when I quarantined two of them, one for a missing fin, the other for pop-eye. I discovered soon after that I had inadvertently put a male and a female together. By the time I made the discovery he had nipped almost all her fins off and had quite the bubble nest built. He is still in the small quarantine tank until I can afford to get him a larger one.

This little guy lives on my desk in a tank made for Betta's. It comes with a under gravel filter and a light. He is the runt and quite content to watch me as I study, make jewelry, or just goof around online. He is also the most unique looking of the 6 with his transparent fins.

Here are the "Ladies". Mama Betta lives in this 10 gallon tank with her daughters. I really would like to get them separated into other tanks so they are not so crowded, but as of yet have not been able to do so.

So there you have it... Betta's from Spawn, to Hatch, a little growth documented in between, and finally the adult pictures.

Hope you have enjoyed the Saga of the Betta's :o)

Four Week Old Betta Fry

This little guy/girl (still too soon to tell) is hunting for food... well not so much hunting as watching it intently before snapping it up. Which is what he/she did right after this picture was taken.

They seem to enjoy hanging out near the Mystery Snail that lives in the tank with them. I am not sure, but I think it is because something he excretes is edible to them. One day I saw as many as two or three with a lip lock on him before going for a ride all about the tank when they were about a week old or so.

If you look at the snail closely in this picture you can see the little white wormy looking things. They are growing naturally in my tank thanks to some plants I picked up at PetSmart a few days before the spawn. They are food for the fry, as of yet I have not had to introduce any outside food source for them.

In this picture the fry is seen coming to the surface for air. At around 4 weeks their labyrinth organ begins to develop. You can see the tiny bubbles that they have been busy blowing all over the place in the last day or two.

Hard to see the fry in this image. To put it in perspective the gravel is the regular size aquarium variety. The fry is located in the center of the picture.

Babies Grow Up So Fast

3 Fry at the base of the plant

The baby Betta's are now three weeks old. At day 4 after they began to hatch I removed the male, had I removed him a day sooner I may have more fry swimming about.Turns out to be a happy mistake because I only have the one ten gallon tank, and a dozen or so fry is the perfect number.
Another happy incident that actually occurred two days prior to the spawn was the purchase of some plants at the local PetSmart. I noticed a day or so after the fry began to hatch that my tank was full, and I do mean FULL of teeny tiny white bugs. There were long skinny (in comparison) ones and short round ones. They were best seen with a magnifying glass... a little research educated me that they are a normal part of tank life, but the best part is that they are natural first food for baby Betta's!
Three weeks later the bugs are all but gone... the larger ones anyway. I can still see small ones with my magnifying glass. The fry are growing very well... some are bigger than others which is interesting to me. The all hatched at the same time, have lived in the same tank, eaten the same kind of food, yet there are some that are noticeably larger than others. One in particular is very small, about the size it was at 3 days old. I call it the runt... doubt he/she will survive. :(

Life in the Betta Tank video shows how they were doing about a week ago.

Rice and Beans

My church has challenged the congregation to eat nothing but rice and beans and drink only tap water for 5 days. It is to give us a better understanding of how people in third world countries eat. The money we save on groceries and eating out will be spent on getting them more food and hopefully clean drinking water.
I missed breakfast this morning as I had an early class and not enough time to cook up some rice. The picture is of my lunch that I am working on eating while writing this blog.... I am getting a better understanding all ready.
Can somebody please pass me some salt?

Betta Love

Today I am sharing with you my hobby of breeding Betta fish
first the tank needs to be set up. Temp is kept between 80-82 degrees, Styrofoam cup cut lengthwise for the male to blow the bubble nest under.

The Bubble nest

The female Betta after a day of "courting"

The Spawning

The eggs hatched the day after spawning. This picture was taken when the babies were Two days old. The male moved the bubble nest from below the cup to the front of the tank.

Here you can see the young falling out of the nest. They kept the male very busy for about three days until they were able to swim on their own.

You have to look closely to see them but here are pictures taken today of the five day old babies. I took the male out two days ago, but I think he had already munched on a few as I have only been able to count 9-10 of them.

The babies are the tiny brownish spots with a black dot on them. Clicking on the pic will open it up larger so that they are easier to see.