# Betta Fry With Tails in Air



## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

Some of the fry are lying on the ground with their tails pointed straight up... I thought one was dead so I poked it with a stick and moved a little, but not very much. (kinda sluggishly?) Somehow I don't think this is normal? Could I have overfed? They are about a week old and up to this point they have been feeding on the micro-organisms from the java moss and marimo moss ball. I fed them some walter and micro worms earlier.
The ammonia is somewhere between 0 and .25ppm; however, it seems to look more 0 than .25ppm; it's hard to tell lol.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

My first thought with those symptoms...nutrition deficit...what else have you been feeding and how much/often. Water temp, how much and how often on the water changes, tank size-what spawning method did you use and how is the tank setup what are you using to retain heat/humidity over the water.

If it is nutrition related---sometimes not much you can do.....


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

They are a week old in a 2 gallon tank, that they parents spawned in with the Thai method. I was going to move them into a 10 gallon tank when they were around 2 weeks old. They have just been eating infusoria and walter/bananana/microworms. I'm looking into getting brine shrimp eggs, but I can't seem to find any in the local stores. Temperatures at 82 degrees and I have plastic wrap over the top of the tank. I used a turkey baster to suck up some debris, and have been floating a cup in the water and adding in some water with a turkey baster. I haven't really started on heavy duty water changes yet since they are barely a week old. X]

Also, this seems very sudden. They were fine yesterday night and this morning.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

DoctorWhoLuver, you should get one of these! It is a fantastic deal. The amount of BBS eggs you get is worth more than what you pay just for the hatchery! I am really pleased with mine, and it doesn't even need an air pump to run.

http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c213/Hatchery-Dish-p183.html


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestions That looks really nice, I'm just a bit worried that it would arrive too late, so that's why I was looking into the local stores x] 
But I might just have to order one


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Maybe you should feed boiled egg yolk mixed with tank water till you get BBS. :-/ Do you happen to have Amazon Prime? You could probably get overnight BBS for not very much extra, if so.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

I do have Prime, that sounds like a good idea. I thought about feeding the boiled egg yolk, but I was afraid that it would pollute the water and that the worms might have been better
Do you think it would be too early move them into a bigger tank?


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Yeah, it will pollute the water....

Is this the same pair that you've bred quite a bit over the last month or so? If you're feeding the right foods, I wonder if the parents are getting enough conditioning between breeding to really produce quality eggs. I honestly don't know, as I don't have the experience, but it might be something to consider and ask about.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

With nutrition related issue in delicate young fry-Death can happen in seconds and nothing you can do. Prevention is the best method-Sadly in a 2gal tank-that small of volume would only have enough natural food colonized for maybe 20 or so fry for 1-2 days at most.

Mass death/die off is not uncommon due to poor nutrition-it happens fast.

You could try harvesting some natural microorganism, however, if the fry are too weak to eat it won't do much good-with that said you still might have a few fry viable.

If you have a brine shrimp net-use this and a small cup of dechlorinated water-go outside and look for standing water-scoop some water-invert the net into the container of water and keep hunting-you may or may not be able to see much more than off color water caused by microorganisms. Once collected-poor this water through the brine shrimp net-then invert the net into the fry tank. Use your judgement on what you collect-if you can see it with the naked eye it might be too big for the fry to eat. Anything too big toss in the adult Bettas tanks.

Good luck...


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

They were bred three times  This is the third time. They were first bred back towards the end/beginning of June/July. This time, I conditioned them for about 2.5 to 3 weeks and they were fed frozen daphnia/brine shrimp and live mosquito larvae. 
I should have known that food from the plants wouldn't last that long. I just read somewhere that the fry could last up to a week on infusoria and it didn't click in until today that I may not have had enough infusoria. I've collected all the fry that are not looking so well into a cup and just put in some walter worms. Hopefully, they will still have some energy left to eat  The death toll has now reason to 4 
Thank you for the help.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

What I did with my fry in this batch was that I actually added infusoria every day for the first week from an established planted tank. I'd turn on the light in the morning, wait for the infusoria to come up toward it, gather up a few cups of water, and pour it into the fry tank. It seems to have worked at least somewhat.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

That sounds like a good idea. My infusoria source was the plants I had in the fry tank and I just assumed that it would produce enough. I spent all that time researching and I guess it just didn't click.
I'm having bad luck with my bettas these past few days XD The other day, one of my female bettas somehow got past the divider and into the another female betta's side, who killed her.. the fry aren't doing so well, and I just spilled some chicken soup into one of my male's tank when I tripped as I walked past... :/


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

We live and learn.....thats life.....another thought...green water...got any buckets of water outside that are green...that is massive amount of infusoria and microorganisms...Dip a cup and slowly add that to the fry tank or strain it using a brine shrimp net.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

Yeah, I'll do that, I conveniently have a bucket of green water outside.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Awesome....also, if you haven't already-make a 25% water only change too and if you have either IAL or Oak leaf-add some crushed up to the tank and get the tannins up.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

I will be doing that as well then do you think it is to early to move them into a 10 gallon if they are a week old?


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Those micro cultures (micro worms, banana, walter) lack quite a bit in nutrition - I had started out using those and ended up throwing them away as the fish wouldn't grow as good and missing ventrals kept popping up. Now I feed BBS from day 3, along with water changes starting that day and dripping in new water all day.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks. I'm going to order some eggs off of Amszonx]


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

That has been my experience too Myates-with the worms cultures-I tossed all of mine too-NHBBS and other micro-critters I grow in tub of water outside is what I use for fry.

I am pretty rough with my fry-I have netted them as young as a day after free swimming and newly hatched I have used a cup to allow them to flow into for transfer-then tossed them in bigger tanks without any problems-but thats me..I wouldn't recommend others do that. 
IMO-getting your surviving fry in a larger tank or volume of water is a good idea.

IMO/E-when ordering brine shrimp eggs-buy a small amount and keep them in the fridge-They go bad fast and you can have decreased hatch rate and that can put you in a bind too. I always test them with a test hatch at the end of summer since I don't use them in the warmer month-_My fry get whatever naturally grows outside in buckets of water and in their tanks outside._ 
I think I ordered my last batch of BBS eggs from e-bay-usually I order them from Aquabid but nobody had free shipping and I always look for that-I hate paying for shipping...lol....especially when it cost more than the product itself...lol....


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

I did two experimental spawns to see just how small of a container I could use. I did a 1 gallon and a two gallon planning to use those for 21 days. I feed mine green water from day 3-7 after hatching with a BBS feeding here and there and BBS there after until 1 month old where I start to add in frozen BBS and fry powder. I found it is extremely difficult to clean such a small tank and even though I did daily 50% water changes the fry are almost one month old and are quite small-most look like they are 1-2 weeks old. It was also extremely difficult to add and remove water without taking forever or disturbing the fry greatly. I transferred everyone to the standard 5 gallon nursery tank that I have success with and will give them two weeks. If I don't see substantial growth I'll scrap the spawns or I may cull out all but the largest and see it they continue to grow.

When feeding infusoria I add some to the tank once the fry hatch so the infusoria can really take hold by the time the fry need them. Then I add it daily. I use green water from outside-I don't think there are enough infusoria just hanging out around the plants in a tank. I actively add it. My water is alive. I can see plenty of tiny critters in there and the fry have a field day mowing them down. I prefer it as a first food just because it is always available to the fry and it won't foul the water at all. I find when I start with BBS at day three I am having to clean the bottom of the tank daily. I'd rather not disturb the fry for the first week at all. No water additions, no siphoning...nothing.

I am also none to gentle with my fry. I remove water quickly, I add water quickly, I net them, etc. and honestly I lose very few from handling stress after they are two weeks old. For some reason they don't seem as hardy during the first two weeks so I do baby them a bit but after that they are handled like adult fish.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

Thank you for all the help I'm going to try my hardest to keep the remaining fry alive. Most of the spawn has died off, about 70 to 80 and there are about 10 surviving fry. Although, some of the survivors still aren't looking so well.. Hopefully, they'll pull through


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

There is a learning curve for sure. Are you conditioning your pair for another go-round?


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

No that was the last spawn before school starts. Maybe in a few months or so.


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