# Giant Journey



## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Hello everyone! 
My name is Tara and I'm a first time betta breeder! I've decided to start off with a challenge (of course...) and go for giants because there are barely any here in Canada.

I'm going to start off with one male and maybe two females to get a hang of it.

I just finished getting all the equipment:
Some 5, 10 and a 20 gallon tank, food, filters, heaters, fake plants and hides for every tank, water conditioner and aquarium salt, a breeder box, water test kit and uhhh I think that's all?
I'm also gonna get them some mystery snails and moss balls for company 

Now I just need to find and purchase some giants! I'm thinking of using aquabid since its so hard to find giants here in Canada. Anyone know of any good places that'll ship here? Wish me luck! <3


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

We've done it guys! We got our first pair!

They're being shipped in from Thailand on August 8th and I'm super excited!

I hope the transit goes well and they're alive and healthy when they get here (I'm pretty worried but the breeder has a DOA policy so that makes me feel a little bit better...)

Here are my two new children! <3 We've got a blue marble male and a lavender female!


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## AndreaPond (May 2, 2020)

Those are a couple of beauties! Good luck and keep posting along the way.


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Gorgeous picks! Oh I’m excited for you!


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

UPDATE! They’ve arrived here in Canada! I’m going to the transhipper soon so pick them up. I really hope they’re healthy and alive. I’m so excited!


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

They both are alive, seem healthy and getting accustomed to their new tanks  The female is a lot more active and exploring while the male is a little more shy.
I'll post pictures and do a name reveal whenever I can get decent pics of them 😂


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## KaderTheAnt (Jan 19, 2017)

Good luck!

Something I’d like to add, just a bit of my own experience.

When it came down to me breeding giant bettas, it was difficult to say the least. It has to do with most of the giants being naturally docile. I ended up having quit the whole project all together! 

This is not to discourage you or anything of the sort, just a little heads up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

KaderTheAnt said:


> Good luck!
> 
> Something I’d like to add, just a bit of my own experience.
> 
> ...


Yeah, I know its a lot tougher than normal bettas! This'll be my trial run


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Here we go!
Meet Ky (Kyogre) and Lunala 💕

Ky was very photogenic this morning and definitely coming out of his shell! (uh... scales?)
















Lunala is settling a little more compared to yesterday. She's preferring to chill behind the moss balls or inside her little cave. Had a hard time getting a decent picture of her because of that! Couldn't get both her head and her body in the same frame 😂

















Also a little extra pic of this snail having the time of their life LOL


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Beautiful pair! Very exciting indeed! I only wish you were in the USA so I could buy some babies from you in the next 4-5 months LOL. Looking forward to seeing their fry, and watching your Giant journey 💜


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Hey everyone! I made an instagram and a fb page for my bettas if you are interested in following  
Insta: Login • Instagram
FB: https://www.facebook.com/TarasBettas


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Alright! I got a breeding tank up and cycling and I'm going to try to move the pair to the tank this upcoming monday. The male seems to be pretty active so I'm hoping that the won't have the typical giant laziness


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

I'm way too excited/nervous and debating whether or not I should try today... Do you think it'd be an okay idea? They seem to be pretty comfortable in their new homes and not stressed at all.


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

I added Ky to the breeding tank and left him to swim around to make sure he knew this was his territory.
An hour later I added Lunala in a breeding box. Ky got SO excited! I've never seem him flare and dash back and forth so many times before! It's hilarious to watch!
No bubble nest yet but its only been about 10 minutes. I'm covering the tank for now so we will wait and see.
I will leave them overnight and check in the morning.

Here are some screenshots from a video I got of their interaction. I'll upload the full videos some time in the future.









Here he is showing off!









Hiding under the almond leaf cause he doesn't know how to impress her 😂

I've noticed he's been getting a lot more red on his ventral and anal fins and I'm really curious how he'll end up looking. That's getting a marble for ya... You never really know what you'll get 😋


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

A little bit concerned that Lunala isn't interested in him... I did the introduction this morning and at first it seemed fine but then Lunala lay at the bottom and started breathing heavily. I put her back into the breeding box and she seemed fine and even ate some food.
I'm going to give her a break and move Ky into the breeding box and let her have run of the tank for a while.


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Alright we got good news and bad news!

Good news is I woke up this morning to them trying to spawn.
Bad news is they suck at it 😂


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

AND WE HAVE EGGS! Not sure if they’re fertilized or not and the male isn’t picking them up and putting them in his bubble nest. He’s just continuing to try and mate. I’ll wait till there finished to see if maybe then he decides to care for them.


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Woooo! Long distance high five! ✋🏻


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Bit of an issue with some egg eating so I separated as much eggs as I could and have them floating in a shallow plastic tub in the tank.
They’re still going at it though and it looks like he put SOME eggs in his bubble nest so we will just have to wait and see...


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

🤗🤗🤗


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Look at those eggs! Good job big fella! Congratulations Tara!


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## CosmicSyringe (Jul 20, 2013)

Beautiful names for a beautiful couple ❤
I liked your Facebook page, im Cemetery on there. So excited for you.


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

So sad news...
A few days ago I noticed that I couldn't see any eggs in the nest. I hoped that maybe they hatched but I also couldn't see any fry...
I waited a few days and still nothing so I removed the male from the breeding tank yesterday.
I think he might have eaten the eggs... Not sure if it was because they weren't fertilized properly or something happened to them or if he just decided they looked yummy.
So first ever breeding has failed 
Disappointing but also a good learning experience. I now know what to expect.

I'm going to wait about two weeks till I try again. I'm going to artificially hatch them this time and I've purchased some methylene blue to help with that!
Anyone have any tips for artificially hatching?

Thanks everyone for your support!


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## CosmicSyringe (Jul 20, 2013)

Hey at least you know they're compatible!  You know what to do, you got this!


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Something incredible has happened!
I was cleaning out the breeding tank getting it ready for the next time I try to breed them and I moved the hide and a little baby swam out!!!! 
I think they’re the only one (honestly I’m kinda scared I threw some out while I was cleaning 😭 but I was checking well so I don’t think so...)

I don’t even know when it hatched or anything but they’re pretty small! Going to rehatch some more brine shrimp and hope this lil fella makes it ❤


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

So more bad news...
I haven't seen the baby since I posted and I've checked everywhere. Went through the java moss and even searched the filter and nothing so I'm thinking it probably didn't make it. 

The methylene blue arrived today so I'm going to introduce the pair together again tonight and hopefully we will get some eggs.


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Second spawning: somewhat successful? 

Took the two a really long time to start doing their little mating dance and even when they started embracing... no eggs were coming out. They were very frustrated! And finally, literally hours later, we got a LITTLE bit of eggs... And by little I mean probably only about 6 embraces gave out eggs and there were maybe 5 eggs each of those times... and the female ate a few so that’s fun. 🙄
Ky was able to get some in his nest (which looks amazing btw and so much better than his first try)

I removed them as soon as they were finished, carefully removed more than half of the water in the tank and added in methylene blue.

You can’t really see any eggs in the picture cause there really isn’t a lot but here’s this bubble nest + the blue.









Really hoping we will get some babies this time 🤞🏻


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Seeing a little more eggs! 
I really hope they’re fertilized 😖
We won’t know until tomorrow!


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Our first little baby... 🥰


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

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http://instagr.am/p/CFFxJtjh9BU/

They're free swimming today!


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

4 days after hatching 💕 

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http://instagr.am/p/CFIP1rnhMMy/


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Awe Terra! Congratulations, job well done chick! 🤘🏻


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

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http://instagr.am/p/CFaa93fBu0V/


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

15 days old and they're starting to look like actual fish!
I saw at least 3 while I was cleaning the tank the other day


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Got a video of two of them together ❤ It’s crazy how they’re both different colours at such a young age!

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http://instagr.am/p/CFqwbzSBcUp/


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

1 month old and they’re really starting to get their colours 🥰

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http://instagr.am/p/CF-xhpNhL8F/

Still have four seemingly healthy babies! Any ideas on gender from those videos?


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

I set up another breeding tank in hopes of getting some more fry. At first it seemed to be going well and they were both flaring at each other. I left them overnight and the female seemingly became uninterested. She was hiding and they seemed to be leaving each other alone so I decided to leave them in another night. Since they're still pretty new to breeding I thought perhaps they needed some more time.
Today still nothing, so I decided to separate them. I removed the male and put him back in his tank and just now got a good look at the female.
She is really banged up and missing a TON of her scales on her head and body. I feel so bad I let it get this far. I didn't notice anything that I thought was dangerous for her. She's swimming around and eating so I know she's okay but I still feel so bad. She looks like a mess! 
I'm not sure how long I should wait before trying again or even if I should.
Any ideas? Should I keep her in the breeding tank for now? I've put a good amount of aquarium salt in there and am unsure if I should move her back to her own tank or not.

And update on the fry, they're doing really well! They're starting to chase each other around a lot so I may have to remove some a little sooner than I hoped


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## Fish 4 sale ¢50 a fish. (Sep 30, 2019)

You really need a lot of preparation before putting the pair together, especially with giants. I have had bettas that instantly fall in love and dump 100s and 100s of eggs, and others that lay around, and a male that beats any female ever placed in his tank; seemingly retarded. It all depends on the individual fish.


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Looking like this little one is taking after their mother! Hopefully a lavender 😍


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

I am shocked I was able to get this photo 😂 Look at those colours 😍








1 month and 3 weeks old


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Oh boy it's been a while since I've last posted!
Here are the three survivors <3 They're just over 2 months old and getting bigger every day!
The two purples have gotten a lot lighter. One's body is basically all white (I'm assuming that's the marbling!)
Haven't been able to tell genders yet as I haven't seen any egg spots... unless they're all boys  
They're all separated into 10 gal tanks.


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Here is the beautiful blue baby at 2 1/2 months old! I’m pretty sure they are female as I can see an egg spot. What do you guys think?

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http://instagr.am/p/CHzX7wQB9Zv/

I’ll post the others soon 💕


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

I see the spot as well! She is super pretty. Sometimes males will show a false egg spot until they mature more. Even had some males flash breeding bars and I was sure they were females. They ended up males haha. Parents are plakats right? If they are male their anal fins will get longer like dad. You’ll definitely be able to tell gender soon.


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Here is the marble of the bunch! Aren’t they super funny looking? 😂 I have NO idea what they’ll end up looking like and I’m thinking I might have to keep them so I can find out... LOL
No idea on the gender. Thought I saw an egg spot but who knows!

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http://instagr.am/p/CH02IRHh1FZ/


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Ah! Now the cellophane bodies are easy to tell male/female. Shine a flashlight on her from the top or behind and you can see ovaries or eggs. Here is a pic of my shorty cello girl full egged, just for reference so you can see what I mean.










and a view of a male









honestly it was hard for me to determine who was what in my spawn. I remember when I took that 1st pic, I said whoa! Those are definitely eggs! Pretty cool to see for my first time 😄


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Finally got some somewhat "professional" looking photos of the babies!
They've all changed so much. I'm going to try and edit together a before and after image sometime soon.
I'm thinking we have all females but I'm still not 100 percent sure.
Baby #1 and #2 have both marbled, and I can see perhaps some marbling on #3 as well.
Any ideas what their colours would be called? Is there a name for them? 
Also they're a little chunky... ESPECIALLY baby #3, which is weird cause I feed them all the same amount. Do you guys think I should maybe give them less?

Baby #1 

















Baby #2

















Baby #3

















Just over 3 months


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Around 4 months old. 
Sadly don’t think any of them are going to be big giants, but I’m still hoping maybe half giants or a random burst of growth  They’re all around 1 1/2 inches, some a little over. It’s also pretty much confirmed we have all girls.
Their colours are still changing and I was right about the last solid gal! She has indeed turned marble! Her colours arenquite settled yet but I think she’ll turn out a little more purple than her sister who has begun to show beautiful irids. I’m not sure what any of their colours would be called, anyone willing to help out with that? 
It was also super hard to get good pictures of the last one. She super feisty and doesn’t like me very much 😅























I also posted some videos on my Instagram @tarasbettas


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

We've sadly lost our adult female, Lunala. 
I noticed a few days ago that she wasn't out swimming around and hadn't been eating her food. Today I checked the tank and she was nowhere to be found. I know there are risks when breeding but it's always upsetting. Perhaps she was injured during the last breeding? Maybe she was egg-bound? I don't know what happened. 
She was gorgeous and a real big giant. I'm glad I was able to get some babies out of her before she passed, but I am disappointed I won't be able to get any more from her.
I'm pretty sure that the mystery (apple) snail that was in her tank ate her after she died because there is no sign of her whatsoever.


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## Fish 4 sale ¢50 a fish. (Sep 30, 2019)

Sorry about that.


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Another update! Around 5 months old now. 
I keep holding off selling them because they keep changing like crazy! I just wanna know what they'll end up looking like 😂
Not the best pictures this time but I tried my best to show their irids!


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Another very delayed update LOL 
I've decided to keep these girls and breed them in the near future <3 
My current male is sick so I'm not going to be breeding him to them so I'm on the lookout for a new fella for these ladies.
What type of betta would you recommend I pair them with?


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

So I was looking for a male avatar for these girls and i... stumbled upon some giant halfmoons and... well.... meet my new giants 









Blue Butterfly HM









Candy Nemo OHM

Purchased them from the same place in Thailand where I got my first pair. They should be arriving the end of the month and I'm super excited


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

THEY’VE ARRIVED!!! They’re both so gorgeous 😍


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Wow absolute stunners! Congrats! 💜


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## Tara18 (Jul 26, 2020)

Hi everyone!
I’ve made a second journal to focus on my new pair of giants
Go and follow it if you’re interested ❤








Giant Journey Pt 2


July 8th 2021 Decided to make a second journal for my second pair. We are doing a beautiful blue butterfly halfmoon male giant and a fullmoon candy nemo female giant. I just released them rogether a few minutes ago and previously had the female floating in the tank in a breeding box for about...




www.bettafish.com


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