# M Red/Purple DoubleTail x F Blue Halfmoon



## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Hello,* This was my first time spawning bettas and the goal was to see what colors I would get if I mixed a purple-red male with a blue female. These were common petstore bettas which made this experience all the more fun- I had NO IDEA what color combinations I was really going to get! :smile2:
*


Goal: To find out what color combos will I get with a DT-red x HM-blue. (Hoping for Purple-ish)*


Temp: 80F
Hardness: Close-to 0
pH: 6.5



I will keep this updated once I figure out how to add pictures (hmm do the "attachments" work?). As of today my spawn is 5 weeks old and I will get pics of them up as well also...! :nerd:


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*The Spawning*

*4/24/16* After several attempts, 

my pair finally spawned. Between 300-500 eggs were laid and they continued embracing each other for 8 hours. Both parents were virgins and I was surprised to see the female picking up the eggs and spitting them into the nest as well.


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*The Hatching*

*4/26/16* After two long days,


The little ones finally hatched. The temp remains at 80F to promote faster growing. The father, Flare, has had 2 sleepless days of watching over the eggs, and will have another two days of watching over the fry and keeping them in the nest before they become free-swimming. around 100-200 fry can be seen at this point.


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Week 1*

*Week 1* - Tragedy Struck..

The live food I ordered did not arrive in time (don't order from "microworms.com"... use "The Fruit Fly Shop"), so this was the week the fry went "missing". I suspect they ate each other, and also the culture of freshwater copepods that bloomed during this time. an unknown amount remained. They would not receive food until after their first week.  

The fry are extremely small, and hard to see. My phone camera could only do so much.


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Week 2*

*Week 2* - The Feeding

After the end of the harshest week of their little lives, the fry that survived were given only microworms. The worms sunk to the bottom and some of the fry ate them. Others ate the copepods that were crawling along the glass. They began to grow. At this stage I closely monitored the ammonia levels, as I could not easily do any water changes during this time. The ammonia was somewhere below .25ppm, not good, but not deadly.

Note: I realize the water was looking gross. It is tinted because of the Indian almond leaves and also decaying plant and snail matter. Ammonia was monitored every day.


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## Fenghuang (Dec 28, 2012)

For future reference, boiled egg yolk can serve as emergency newborn fry food in a pinch.

But happy some fry survived and are growing. They're very cute at this stage.


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Week 3*

Week 3 - Baby Brine Shrimp


This is the week I finally added baby brine shrimp to their diet. They ate primarily microworms (note the white tummies) and also a minimal amount of baby brine shrimp. I did not know how much they would consume, but their size dramatically increased. 

Note: I placed a sponge filter inside at the end of the second week. I also bought a turkey baster to vacuum the bottom of the tank (snail poop..) After the second week I also did a partial water change. 30 fry could be counted.


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Boiled yolk*



Fenghuang said:


> For future reference, boiled egg yolk can serve as emergency newborn fry food in a pinch.
> 
> But happy some fry survived and are growing. They're very cute at this stage.


I tried that, they would not eat it. I tried so much different things to save my fry. The bugs (and their unfortunate siblings) were the only thing that saved them. I am also convinced that my decaying plant matter produced infusoria.


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Week 4*

*Week 4* - Growth Spurt and Color~

Water changes were increased to 50% two times this week. The bottom of the tank was carefully vacuumed and they continued to eat baby brine shrimp (BBS). I added microworms for the smaller fry but by the end of the week, I stopped feeding it to them as I was convinced that live freshly hatched BBS was giving them far more nutrition. The first color appeared on a few of the fry, it looked purple/blue on the heads. No color was detectable on the fins till the end of the 4th week. By the end of this week, they were officially 1 month old and red and/or blue was detectable on some of their fins.


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Week 5*

*Week 5* - More Color



The fry are now showing different colors on their fins and bodies. They are eating a mixture of frozen BBS and Live BBS. This is the last week I will feed them live BBS since they seem to enjoy the [vitamin-fortified Hikari-Brand] frozen BBS just as much. They now have color and I can count exactly 30. It seems I have had no more major losses since I started feeding them. 

Water changes are 50-60% twice a week and the temp was raised to 84F during this time. Ammonia spiked once to 1.0ppm and was quickly resolved with a water change and ammonia-fizz tab (dissolved in a cup first before adding it in slowly). I am afraid to change too much of their water all at once. Ammonia now sits at .25ppm and below. Not good, but not terrible. I will increase frequency of water changes to get the water quality up.

PS: I know my camera quality sucks! xD SORRY

Note: Okay, I will slow down with my posts now and will upload week 6 next week...  feel free to comment!


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## dcg (Nov 5, 2015)

If you have time, increase water changes to daily rutine. This should encourage grouth and save time for you in the long run.


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## bettafishsam (May 23, 2016)

You're babies are so cute!!!


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Week 6*

*Week 6* - More Growing!


The baby betta fish are getting much bigger. 3-4 of them have purple bodies and red-turning-into-blue fins. 2-3 have dark blue bodies resembling the mother, and the rest of them have sandy bodies with red fins (I assume they haven't colored up yet.. idk!) 

I have been feeding them Frozen Baby Brine Shrimp (Hikari-Brand cubes) and crushed pellets (OmegaOne-Brand mini-pellets). I lost one fry and it appeared that it choked on the dry food. I fixed this problem by sticking the dry food in a plastic bag and crushing the [already-small] pellets significantly with a hard object. I have not lost any fry since. I realize flakes or powder would have been a safer way to go before making this big jump!

This week I also did 3 pretty big water changes, as well as checked for ammonia, nitrite and nitrats (rather than just ammonia). I had surprisingly low ammonia, I had a Nitrite spike of .5ppm (fixed with 70%+ water change) and I had a solid amount of Nitrates, so my sponge filter is actually working/cycling. :grin2:


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

*Two Months*

*2 Months Old* - Lots of Colors!

My spawn has been eating high protein dry food for the past two weeks and they have been showing lots of color. I soak the mini-pellets first for 5 minutes before feeding them. I have lost 2 babies over the past two weeks due to unknown reasons, but the rest of the spawn looks 100% healthy. I am starting to see which ones might be male versus which ones might be female, but I am not ready to jar-up any males yet.

Water changes are done 3 times a week. The sponge filter is cycled and so my ammonia sits below .25ppm, nitrites are 0ppm and I keep my nitrates below 40ppm. They are living in aged-and-treated tap water and are extremely active. I am now able to put my finger in the tank and a majority of them will try to nip me, it tickles! 

As for colors I am seeing a lot of red, and a lot of blue. A few of them have purple-ish bodies but it seems I wont get any full-purples  This is still an extremely beautiful multi-color spawn and many local pet stores are very interested in buying.


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## bigbucknc1 (May 19, 2016)

Very pretty spawn you got


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

bigbucknc1 said:


> Very pretty spawn you got


Thank you! I did not know what to expect and most of my fry are now multi-colored :smile2:


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## MysticSky22301 (Apr 16, 2016)

I can't wait for this ^^ I want to breed so bad its taken forever to get all of my cultures and everything! I want to try my marble dragon delta and my blue marble hm


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## SilverSunset (May 29, 2016)

MysticSky22301 said:


> I can't wait for this ^^ I want to breed so bad its taken forever to get all of my cultures and everything! I want to try my marble dragon delta and my blue marble hm


You should go for it! you are smart to have your cultures ready  Im currently at the end of conditioning my HM koi bettas, so i'll be making another spawn log for them. Im also conditioning the "show betta" in my profile picture with the blue mother of this current spawn. im trying to spawn them at the same time in a divided tank (im insane). Another thing you should do during the set-up process is to cycle a mini sponge filter (the 3 inch tall ones) in one of your other tanks just to have it ready for the spawn ^.^


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