# Good Father Of The Family



## toffyzorilla (May 4, 2012)

Aloha, I hope all is well. My betta spawned the morning of Sunday (05/20) and the eggs hatched late evening of Monday (05/21). I removed the female and she is recovering in a community aquarium with some neon tetras. The male seems to be a good father as he put all effort in picking up all the fry and put them back on the bubble nest. I read in some articles that in some point I have to remove the father to avoid the fry from being eaten, but in the same note I don't want to disturb him from rearing the fry. What is the best time to separate the father from the fry?

Here are some of my observations:
1. He constantly picks up the fry and put him back on the nest
2. Some of the fry that fallen swims back to the nest and some of them are having a hard time
3. The father constantly blows bubble in the nest
4. The father has not eaten since Sunday (05/20)

Any information will be greatly appreciated. Mahalo (Thank You)


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

Sounds like he is doing a great job! I usually leave the father in until the fry are around 5 days old. By then they should all be free swimming. Some males will start to eat their fry at that time, others won't. I don't like to take the chance on my fry.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Welcome to the forum and Congrats.....

As tpocicat posted, usually the male is removed once the fry are free swimming, however, you can leave the male long term too-but you can risk the fry....some males are great and others are not....it depends on how important this spawn is, how well you know the male history as a father....but if this is both his and your first spawn....I would remove him once the fry are free swimming.

It sound like everything is going well......what are your plans/goals, what kind of cultures do you have for fry food once they are free swimming...can you tell us more about your spawning method, setup and we would love to see some pics of the breeders, the spawning tank and pic of the fry as they develop...

Again congrats...share your success with us and lots and lots of pics......

Look forward to following your spawn log.....


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## jeffegg2 (Apr 5, 2012)

Once the fry are free swimming, there is no reason to leave the male in the brood tank. The reason to remove him is that he will produce waste that will require more water changes and vacuuming... I prefer to keep the brood tank as clean as possible...

Jeff.


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

I agree with jeffegg2. While you can leave in the male there is really no reason too many of them will go back to making bubblenests and waiting for the female lol. I have been lucky all my males ignore their fry sometimes they eat the weaker fry though. But overall all they do is soil the tank. 
I would offer your dad food I offer pellets usually just one or two many males will ignore them. I hear it can make the male want to eat their fry but I have never had a problem. I usually offer once a few start free swimming. 
And I personally remove my male a few days after they are free swimming because they tend to cull off the malformed fry.


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## toffyzorilla (May 4, 2012)

tpocicat said:


> Sounds like he is doing a great job! I usually leave the father in until the fry are around 5 days old. By then they should all be free swimming. Some males will start to eat their fry at that time, others won't. I don't like to take the chance on my fry.


 
Aloha tpocicat, thank you for the advise. I will continue to observe his behavior in the coming days and separate him when necessary. Mahalo and best regards.


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## toffyzorilla (May 4, 2012)

Oldfishlady said:


> Welcome to the forum and Congrats.....
> 
> As tpocicat posted, usually the male is removed once the fry are free swimming, however, you can leave the male long term too-but you can risk the fry....some males are great and others are not....it depends on how important this spawn is, how well you know the male history as a father....but if this is both his and your first spawn....I would remove him once the fry are free swimming.
> 
> ...


Aloha Oldfishlady, thank you for the welcome and advise. If successful with this batch, one of my goal is to keep some, share some to my friends and if alot survived sell them to one of the local pet store. I am planning to give them some microworms once they are free swimming, are there any other fry food that you would recommend other than microworms? I will definitely post some pictures when I have a chance to take them. Thank you again and best regards.


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## toffyzorilla (May 4, 2012)

jeffegg2 said:


> Once the fry are free swimming, there is no reason to leave the male in the brood tank. The reason to remove him is that he will produce waste that will require more water changes and vacuuming... I prefer to keep the brood tank as clean as possible...
> 
> Jeff.


 
Aloha Jeff, thank you very much for the advise. I will definitely consider this. Best regards.


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## toffyzorilla (May 4, 2012)

Creat said:


> I agree with jeffegg2. While you can leave in the male there is really no reason too many of them will go back to making bubblenests and waiting for the female lol. I have been lucky all my males ignore their fry sometimes they eat the weaker fry though. But overall all they do is soil the tank.
> I would offer your dad food I offer pellets usually just one or two many males will ignore them. I hear it can make the male want to eat their fry but I have never had a problem. I usually offer once a few start free swimming.
> And I personally remove my male a few days after they are free swimming because they tend to cull off the malformed fry.


Aloha Creat, thank you for this information. I will try to give the dad some pellets and see if he will eat it, hopefully he will eat the pellets and not the fry. lol Thanks again and best regards.


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## toffyzorilla (May 4, 2012)

Hello here are some pictures that I just took:









































Dad and Mom are Veil Tail Bettas will post their pictures soon. What is special in this project is Dad, cause I bought him when he was still a baby at Petco sometime December 2011, now he is grown and now a father. Male lives in a 10 gallons aquarium prior to the breeding project. I bought the female last April at Petco.

What I used:
Breeding tank- 5 gallons
Heater
Artificial and Real Plants
Water about 5 inch deep
Indian Almond Leaf
Light

What happened:
Transfer male to the breeding tank on 05/13/12 (Sunday)
Introduced the female to the breeding tank on 05/17/12 (Thursday)- put her in a floating guppy breeding box
Male started to make a bubble nest on the leaf sometime 05/19/12 (Saturday)
Released the female- night of 05/19/2 (Saturday)
Spawned morning of 05/20/12 (Sunday)
Eggs hatched evening of 05/21/12 (Monday)

This is my first attempt to breed bettas and I am crossing my finger that all of them if not- some of them will survive.


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## jeffegg2 (Apr 5, 2012)

What are you going to do with 200 Veil tail bettas?:shock:

Jeff.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

jeffegg2 said:


> What are you going to do with 200 Veil tail bettas?:shock:
> 
> Jeff.


See post #7.....

Sounds like you did a great job and have a plan......

I feed mainly newly hatched BBS to my fry along with all the microorganism that are already in my natural systems-This is the first year I have tried microworms and it didn't go well for me....so I must have did something wrong since so many breeders are successful using the MW....easy enough to culture, harvest...etc......

Your pic are so pretty...colorful and clear....look forward to seeing pics of the breeders....

Now the real fun begins.....lol....rearing the fry can be so rewarding and fun....just time consuming.....


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## jeffegg2 (Apr 5, 2012)

toffyzorilla said:


> Aloha Oldfishlady, thank you for the welcome and advise. If successful with this batch, one of my goal is to keep some, share some to my friends and if alot survived *sell them to one of the local pet store*. I am planning to give them some microworms once they are free swimming, are there any other fry food that you would recommend other than microworms? I will definitely post some pictures when I have a chance to take them. Thank you again and best regards.


You can try, but I think the best you can hope for with veil tails is some credit for fish food.... I personally don't have anything against the type, but they buy them in bulk from over seas for pennys.... They only sell them to push the Betta bowls, and ornaments and stuff.....

Best of luck! Breeding Bettas is a fun hobby!
Jeff.


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## toffyzorilla (May 4, 2012)

Oldfishlady said:


> See post #7.....
> 
> Sounds like you did a great job and have a plan......
> 
> ...



Aloha Oldfishlady, thank you for the suggestion. I will inquire if some newly hatched BBS are available in some pet stores here. I'll used it as an alternative just in case the MW didn't work out well.

I took the pic using my phone and will share the pics of the breeder as soon as I can. You are correct, the real fun has just began. Thanks a lot for your help


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## toffyzorilla (May 4, 2012)

jeffegg2 said:


> You can try, but I think the best you can hope for with veil tails is some credit for fish food.... I personally don't have anything against the type, but they buy them in bulk from over seas for pennys.... They only sell them to push the Betta bowls, and ornaments and stuff.....
> 
> Best of luck! Breeding Bettas is a fun hobby!
> Jeff.


Hello Jeffegg2, thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely consider this. I'm learning what will be the best breeding set-up, technique and behavior. This is my first attempt to try what I read from internet and watched from YouTube (hehehe). So that soon I can attempt to breed beautiful (and a little bit expensive- hehehe) types of Betta. Thanks a lot


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

For newly hatched BBS with their yolk sac intact for best nutrition....you really need to set your own hatchery up....pretty easy to hatch, harvest and feed...I like to keep 2 hatchery going 24h apart...


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