# First spawn!



## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

My silver mustard dragon and his gold dragon sib are in the process of spawning now. They had wrapped at least 15 times and were still at it when I came up to post this.

The mother is helping put the eggs in the nest. I truly had no idea how utterly, absolutely tiny betta eggs are. They are specks. I am completely daunted at the thought that I will have fry in a few days.

You can see the eggs in the bubble nest in the background of these photos.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

Congratulations, Deanna!


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

Yay! Fingers crossed he doesn't eat the eggs!


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## mentallybetta (Jun 20, 2013)

Congratulations! That is really exciting - I'm hoping you can avoid speed bumps the rest of the way!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Some more pics!


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

Congratulations! So happy for you


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

I happy clapped for you when you told me earlier, now I get to see the pictures! Squee!!!!

Congrats again! They did a great job, don't look too beat up  You did a great job too! I see you did the bubblewrap under the leaf trick - it works great 

So happy for you! In 2 days or so you'll start seeing them falling from the nest.. daddy should be picking them up and placing them back in. It's so fascinating watching them grow from little specks to adult size.. <3 it!


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## alunjai (Jul 29, 2012)

Congrats Deanna!! 

How old are your pair? How long did you leave them in the spawn tank before that started to spawn? Did you disturb or feed them during the time inside the spawn tank?

I'm trying to spawn a pair of sib (both virgins) but nothing yet. They're around 6 months old.


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## GhostFeather (Jun 23, 2011)

If you think the eggs are little,wait until you see the fry!!
Congrats!!
Bill


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## Riverotter (May 15, 2013)

Woot! Congrats! So exciting!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Each of these fish were about four months old. I used a 10-gallon tank filled about two-thirds of the way with water (because I wanted to use a BBS hatchery that requires that water level), with a divider that limited them to less than half of it. I put in Atison's Betta Spa, a heater set to 80, a hiding spot, some floating plants, and bubble wrap with an IAL on top of it. I left her in the jar for several hours, and when I let her out he was so extremely aggressive (constantly chasing and biting and not wooing) that I put her back in the jar and let her out later that night, when his bubble nest seemed complete and he seemed more interested in mating instead of fighting.

I let her out into the tank at 3 a.m. and checked on them occasionally the next day. I left the light on at all times. At 8:30 the following night, when I walked in, they had begun the process of spawning. Each time they wrapped, the male and female both gathered the eggs and put them in the nest. They continued until about 11:30. The female was dropping fewer eggs with each wrap at that point, and the male chased her away. I removed her to a jar.

In general, though, I would listen to the experts here rather than to what worked for me. I am new to this and have not yet raised fry, and this is my first successful spawn out of three attempts (the previous two of which were with another male).


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## Lamb (Jul 9, 2013)

YAY! So exciting!!!!  Congrats!


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

OOOO...Let me know how using the BBS hatchery in the tank works out for you. I am all about streamlining stuff.  I had considered it before but never tried it because of all the water changes.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

And...I'm afraid the male might have eaten the eggs. 

Do any of you with more experience see eggs in these pics? The specks were clearly visible to me last night and even this morning, and now I don't see them....


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

Awww. I don't see any eggs.


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## Riverotter (May 15, 2013)

Don't give up though! He could have jammed them up into the bubble wrap. My CT male, spent an entire day putting eggs as high into the bubble wrap as he could, decided he didn't like it, and then moved them all to a brand new nest, a half inch away.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

He doesn't look all bloated up, does he? If Pequea gorged himself on eggs, he would have a pretty round full belly right now.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

No, he honestly doesn't....and there were hundreds of eggs....


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

He would be a balloon if he ate all those eggs.

And I think I see some whitish-yellowish spots under the bubblewrap section that is underneath the IAL.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

The good news: There are still eggs there, plenty of them.

The bad news: The in-tank BBS hatchery I bought was a terrible idea. I didn't stop to think that it might be making a slight current out the escape hatch (it was), and the current diminished the bubble nest substantially. I am hoping that the eggs will still be able to survive--some of them are floating by just a few bubbles, out from under the bubble wrap now.  And now I have to worry that it might have spilled a bit of its salty water into the tank when I pulled it out.

Learning process. I'm chalking it up to a learning process. But damn.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Glad there are still eggs. They will probably still survive, even if they sink to the bottom. The little bit of salt won't hurt at all... If anything it will help ward off fungi and bacteria.


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## mentallybetta (Jun 20, 2013)

After you turned off the current did the male go right back to work collecting and organizing?


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## Riverotter (May 15, 2013)

Out of my first 3 attempts I have 4 teeny bettas.
I know it's hard to not - but don't stress it. Worst case scenario - you wait a few weeks and try again.

;D I just set up a couple of pairs for spawning. LOL, hopefully I'll get more then 4.


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## mentallybetta (Jun 20, 2013)

Riverotter - I almost know the feeling. I've only got about 20 swimming around from my first spawn, which happened to also be attempt number 3.

However, whether I had 3 or 200, I think my determination to get them all to adulthood would be about the same.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

The male is incredibly excited this morning and gets agitated when I try to take close-up pictures of the nest, but I don't see any tails hanging down, and he's maybe moved the eggs up higher in the bubble wrap, because I don't see them again either.


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## Lamb (Jul 9, 2013)

I would say if he's still tending the nest, you're good.  I'm sure you'll see little fry swimming around soon enough!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

I hope so! He's very industriously doing _something_; I just don't know what.


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## Lamb (Jul 9, 2013)

Lol. I'm sure it's fine! He seems to be a great dad! I can't wait to see babies swimming!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

He really does seem to be a good dad. He isn't as human-centered as my other male (Courtland--the boy in my avatar) is, but his instincts seem amazing.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

That's great! My 2 spawns were complete failures. In the first one, the male got too bloated from eating the eggs, so no fry. In the second one, the same male was to weak to take care of the eggs by the second day and there were fry/eggs scattered every where. 7 survived and still haven't reached the free swimming stage at 5 days. Good luck on your spawn!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

I tried twice before I got these eggs, and since they haven't even hatched yet, I'm not out of the woods yet! But we'll see....


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Waiting on the good news!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

I still don't see any little tails. Starting to get a bit fretful, but the male still seems so busy with the nest....


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

No snails in there, right? Bad memories!!

What temp is the water? It's been about 48 hours.. if you see him actually moving around in the nest with his mouth good chance there are some in there. The tails.. like you mentioned in the picture on my FB - a magnifying glass helps


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

I have fry! Some of them are hanging from the bubbles, but some are just hanging vertically in the water, not moving. Is that okay? Are those dead? Do I need to wait to take the male out, or take him out now?

OMG, BABIES!! I am so excited!!!


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

LOL You never see them at first.. 

They don't move a whole lot the first few days - they will hang around the top (or bottom sometimes) just chilling and absorbing their egg sacs. Depending on temp of water it will depend on when to start feeding them. 

But yes, they will just be still for some time.. think after 3-5 days (again, depends on the temp) they will start to become more active.

Take daddy out when you want to.. If you don't see him eating the babies then I would just wait until tomorrow morning to make sure they are all hatched. Can leave him in as long as you feel comfortable - some people leave the father in for weeks with no trouble. I sometimes did for a week or two, but I get nervous after that lol.


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## tilli94 (Nov 30, 2012)

:-D yay!!! Babies lol. They must be itty bitty. Can't wait to see pics.:-D


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

I would never be able to see them without the magnifying glass! I am going to need to invest in reading glasses for betta-breeding.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

If you look very, very closely at this picture, you can see some of the little fry hanging! I don't think I have very many, as near as I can tell, but some.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

Aww Can't wait to see them all grown up!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

I just hope I can succeed at getting them there! I'm nervous about it!


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## shannonpwns (Jul 15, 2013)

Awww I'm so jealous! I can't wait to experience this myself!!


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## mentallybetta (Jun 20, 2013)

You never did tell us the water temperature.

Myates - how much does the temp affect the fry hatching/growing.

Since I live in an upstairs apartment with no air conditioning the temperatures occasionally get close to 90 (though they never drop below 80 because of my tank heaters) but that is yet to adversely affect my fish so I don't care to do anything about it.

Do they hatch faster or start moving sooner when the temperature is higher?

With the water around 85+ my babies hatched in about 30 hours after I pulled the female and were all vertical (though motionless) about 24 hours after that.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

The temperature is about 81.

And now that the fry are moving, I can see that...<gulp> I have a LOT of fry. They are hopping up and down from the nest this morning like little fleas! I gave them some egg yolk mixed with infusoria-laden water, and they all seemed to calm down.

I have to hand it to this dad--he's fantastic. He milked the mom for every egg she had--they wrapped for hours, until no eggs were being released--and has been vigilant to the extreme with the eggs. Now, with the fry, he scans the area constantly to make sure none of the babies need help. I am honestly wondering if I should even remove him.

Wow. Just wow. Now to get the fry grown!

At what point do I add in the sponge filter, and when do I start doing water changes? I have about six gallons of water in a ten-gallon tank.


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## Lamb (Jul 9, 2013)

Love to see pictures!!!!


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Add 1-2g daily until tank is full. Then start doing water changes.
Filters can be used as soon as fry are free swimming -- 1bubble per 1-2 seconds. You can raise the bubbles/strength as fry grows.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

I guess I need to get a different air bubbler, because one won't go that slow even on the lowest setting, and the other isn't adjustable.


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## Lamb (Jul 9, 2013)

I heard to tie the tube until you get desired effects.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Tie/clamp the tube or get a valve... I use the valves to drip water into the tank. It should look like this-
View attachment 171393


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Well, the fry seemed hatched enough to take the male out. He was being just wonderful with them, but I know that's the usual course of action. It was correct, right? He was terribly hard to catch (I hope I didn't injure fry doing it), and is very unhappy now.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

This is only what I can fit in one really close-up picture, but...

I have a LOT of fry. I have no idea how many. A lot. I'm actually wondering what on earth I am going to do with all these guys, assuming I can get them to survive!


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## Riverotter (May 15, 2013)

LOL, first worry about raising them, then worry about homes. I'm sure you'll be able to sell a good many here when it's time. 
They are endearing little specks, aren't they?
I have eggs today, so I'll be raising a batch in tandem with you, lol, assuming all goes well.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Oh, believe me, I'm worrying about every little thing about raising them!!

Today almost all of them are at the surface, and most of them aren't moving. Is this normal?


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Yup! Better at the surface than on bottom  They don't know how to swim properly yet.. they start out with only moving for food then after a week or so they will start darting about a bit more, and so on.. takes a while before they start to swim like the adults


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## mentallybetta (Jun 20, 2013)

Deanna01 said:


> Oh, believe me, I'm worrying about every little thing about raising them!!
> 
> Today almost all of them are at the surface, and most of them aren't moving. Is this normal?


I had the exact same fear the first time!
Lol

They're ok. Get your pictures and count now... they won't stop moving in a week


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

I tried to get pictures of them, but they're still too tiny for my camera to really focus on. And there are too many to count!!


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

So the fry hatched about ten days ago, and even though there were a ton of them, I can hardly find any in the tank. I do have some floating frogbit and watersprite in the tank, so it's possible they're hiding under there. I haven't seen any little bodies, and I've been careful to rescue any I accidentally catch when I do water changes. Do they get really good at hiding around this age, or is it bad news that I'm not seeing them?


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## Riverotter (May 15, 2013)

I need to update my spawn log - but my 2nd spawn are only a couple of days behind yours. Like you, I have plants in the tank, and, like you, my little guys are invisible.

If I take off my glasses, press my nose against the glass and wait for them to move, I think I've got about a hundred.We'll see.
So I think they're just really good at hiding at this age. 
Just feed and clean the tank and hope.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Some of the babies are getting big enough (11 days after hatching) for my camera to focus on a bit! There seems to be a large variation in size, though. Is that normal?


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

I think so. Eggs don't hatch all at once. The fry that hatch first and are free swimming first would be ahead of their siblings. 

That little guy is so cute.


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## SerenaRena (Apr 27, 2013)

congrats! What a great experience!


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