# How do you get infusoria



## Ritingyou (Sep 3, 2011)

So I did a little research on how to get infusoria but each attempt never turned out well.. Then I see some people talking about how they come from the plants we put in the spawning tank...

So is it already there once we have plants in the tank? Or are people putting it in there for the fry and they survive because of the plants... If thats the case how to I get some for when I have fry of my own?


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## betta lover1507 (Aug 6, 2011)

give it lots of light it might take up week or so


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Infusoria and other microorganism will develop with just live plants, however, usually not enough to support growth/development of very many Betta fry for very long-this depends on several factors....number of fry, tank size/water volume, number and species of plants and age of the aquarium......

You can create a more natural type system that will create more infursoria/microorganism for free range feeding for the fry that can support them for a bit longer....other than going natural planted...you can add live plants and lots of common snails and feed these common snail lots of fresh blanched veggies...more greens the better......as the tank matures with the production of microorganism-

In a 10gal full to the top with water-crammed full of live plants with common snails being supplemented with green foods.....within 2-3 months you should have enough microorganism to support 60-80 Betta fry for 2-3 weeks before they would need supplemented/larger foods.....rough estimate.....proper lighting is also needed....6500k with 12h/day photoperiod...


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## Ritingyou (Sep 3, 2011)

Ok, so plant wise I'm pretty good but if I wanted my bettas to spawn in there shouldnt it be only filled half way? Or would I be able to have it filled to the top with no problems? 

This is the spawning tank that I have.. (sorry its a little messy i only had it set up to see what it would look like when its time for me to do it.. then left it for 3 weeks with lights on 24/7) It needs to be cleaned a bit lol


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## Dragonlady (Nov 29, 2010)

I got an awesome culture of infusoria/greenwater from a local breeder when I started breeding bettas... again.


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## Dragonlady (Nov 29, 2010)

Ritingyou,
Half filled tanks will make it easier for the male to catch each fry when they start raining from the nest. About 4-5 inches of water is ideal for normal sized bettas. Giant bettas seem to like the water a bit deeper.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

You can fill the tank all the way to the top...with 10gal tank that is only 10-12inchs....in my outside spawns they are in 16-18inches of water without any issues......deeper water has nothing to do with egg/fry development....with deeper water it also helps to prevent accidents with the male hitting the nest causing eggs/fry to fall....healthy fry shouldn't have any problems getting back to the nest and a healthy well conditioned male shouldn't have any problems retrieving eggs/fry in 10-12in of water...other benefits of deeper water....it closer to the light for better microorganism development, provides more volume for the female, more volume equals better water quality for longer and space for more beneficial plants...lots of different methods to spawn.....I have been using the full to the top or deeper water for 10 years without any issues.....but nothing wrong with lower water either......


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