# Mixing of fry.



## Dan78 (Jan 19, 2013)

Hello I was wondering when I start to breed my bettas if I may mix the fry from them with my guppy, swordtail and mollie fry which are in a fry tank? I know that bettas have a stunting hormone will this affect any other fish or just bettas.


----------



## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Hi Dan, welcome to the forum.

I would not suggest putting same sized betta fry with livebearer fry because they won't be able to compete for food and smaller betta fry may be harassed. But some put a 1cm betta fry with newly born livebearer fry. I'm not sure if the hormones will effect them or not. IME it doesn't seem to affect them (betta vs livebearer).


----------



## Dan78 (Jan 19, 2013)

Indio thanks for the welcome, never even consider the speed which the live bearers can swim at when born compared to the hatched young. Food I was hoping wouldn't be an issue, I was considering one of those timed food dispensers to help when I'm at work for the feeds during the day. I may now consider the new tank for the bettas it was on the plans but if I could utilize what I already have would have been better but guess the new tank and stand will have to come in the future.


----------



## MSG (May 8, 2012)

*Save your money with the auto feeders.*

Most autofeeders will dispense too much food & if mounted wrong, it will have issues with condensation buildup. Which can create mold/rot issues. Last thing you want your fish to consume is slightly decayed food. 

If you have a large acrylic tank 20+ gallons, the autofeeders aren't designed to work with the factory cut outs. 

If the live bearing fry you're placing with the bettas are the same size, it does work. 

It will take at least 1-2 weeks for the betta fry to get larger enough to compete with a newborn guppy fry.

If you do try the multi-fry housing technique, take pictures/videos.


----------



## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Not to mention you should be feeding your young bettas live foods such as micros and BBS, at least for the first couple months - tend to get better results with live foods. Can't do that in a vacation feeder..

Also.. many won't eat flake fry food, they tend to go after food that is moving and alive, as they are not omnivores, but rather insectivores by nature.


----------



## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

All fish have a stunting hormone. It's the "survival of the fittest" ruling, where they will do anything to get ahead. I have four random platy fry in with my 3 month old bettas. -.-; I barely notice them anymore and they've become "one of the pack". However, they are bigger (older age) and I would never place younger bettas with anything. 

Say your baby fishies are 1 week old. The first two weeks are crucial, so making sure they are fed properly is a must. When I work longer days, I use BBS. Baby brine shrimp last a good amount of time in the tank, and usually lasts part of the day when I put in a whack load. Then when I come home I do the same thing.


----------



## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I mix Betta fry and guppy fry all the time and as long as the Betta fry are a bit bigger than the guppy fry-All works out fine with the added benefit of the guppy fry teaching them how to eat processed food at an earlier age-or at least in my experience and the Betta fry seem to grow faster too IME anyway...lol...

As for the stunting hormone-I haven't seen any issues between the two species.


----------



## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Not until the bettas are a bit bigger. Livebearer fry are larger than betta fry.


----------



## Dan78 (Jan 19, 2013)

Well this is alot to take in, I will for the first ever betta spawn keep them in a growing tank guess this is a better option for my first time and see how well I go. Thanks MSG never had an autofeeder and all reports read say that they are great at least now I have an opinion which shows the bad side. The tank which I have ordered for the fry is a 170ltr tank which is a 4ft in length.


----------



## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Nice tank!

And I have heard so much bad about the auto feeders it's scary.


----------



## MSG (May 8, 2012)

*Until you see the size of these newborn bettas it's hard to grasp..*

From the fry I've observed, MOST will NOT eat powdered foods UNLESS they see another fish fry of similar size eating. 

I use various magnifying glasses to watch their little beady newborn eyes as they analyze the microbes around them and decide what to taste & reject. It's absolutely entertaining. Poppy seed sized gourmet taste buds. 

I tried dozens of various dried foods for over a MONTH & gave up. As most who've tried already know, if you add food & they refuse, depending on the amount you drop in.... the water will get ruined & once ammonia starts to show up, it's almost instant death if your filter isn't established. 

You may attempt feeding crushed prepared foods into powder @ your own risk. 

I have 3 different types of auto feeding gadgets I tested out. I'm so glad I didn't pay anything for any of them, but they all NEED tweeking/adjustments before you can trust them to function like they claim. 

I've tried to even create a funnel out of different waterproof materials to redirect the dropped food into the tank, but that didn't work due to condensation build up. 

After I had time I look at the mess those things created @ the back of the tank, I rinsed the auto feed gadgets out of clumped up ruined fish food & put them in storage.

I'm pretty sure there's 50 different types of automated feeders out on the market now. 

I find them more collectible then functional.

I have the 2 on the right. I forget the other brand I have.

Note: these are Canadian prices


----------



## Dan78 (Jan 19, 2013)

Auto feeder definitely out of the question now. My 4ft tank at them moment contains gold fish and a few danios and is a great tank with a bio canister filter and the setup runs like a charm. This is the same type of setup which I'm going to duplicate with the tropical setup for my live bearers and the same tank but different filter for the spawning tank. Bettas I know need a bit different filtration system so still reading up on them due to not jumping into the deep end. Got a few ideas but need ironing out so thanks everyone for your input.


----------



## Maddybelle (Sep 29, 2012)

My betta fry have been living with guppies since 6 weeks old. The guppies range from newborns to adults. The guppies did actually teach the betta babies that the non-wiggly flakes were food. They all get along great, and the bettas' mother is living in the same tub as well. Plus, the guppies get the same good foods my betta fry get! I continue to feed walter worms for the guppies, even though the bettas are too big for them now.


----------

