# Snowflake Flaring *kinda pic heavy*



## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

So I got bored and decided to test out the new macro mode I found on my moms camera. It provided me with some decent flare shots of my favorite betta (dont tell the other) Snowflake. He is really good looking, too bad he proved incapable of breeding, I think he would have had some lovely babies.










































Still cant get the best shots but I what do you expect out of a Walmart Nikon Coolpix :roll:


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

OMG!!!!!!!!!! He is wonderful!!! 
I am sorry he didnt prove to be breeding matirel


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

He's beautiful!


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

He is gorgeous!


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## Twistersmom (Dec 9, 2008)

Very beautiful betta!


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

How any times did u spawn him?


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

I attempted to spawn him twice.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

How is your other doing??


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

My new male Kingdra? Hes a little mad because his plants were dying and growing something on them, so I took alot of them out and did a 100% water change, but hes still gets prettier everyday, now he leaves his ventral fins down all day except when he swims. He still not eating that great yet. He will run up and suck down a pellet but a few seconds later he'll spit it back out. Im not to worried about it though because my female did it the first few days too and now she doesnt stop eating.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

He'll be fine after he settles in a bit more.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I am sure he will be fine! :]
How big is his tank??


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

10g all to himself, but it will eventually be the babies home ... as soon as they make babies.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Thats good. When are you going to breed them??


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Well first he has to pick up his eating so I can condition him, and then that takes about 2 weeks. So a rough guesstimation would be about 2 and a half weeks unless you think I could get away with it earlier.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Well you can try staring the conditioning now. And see if he picks up his eating....


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

How exactly did you condition your pair crowntail, because I can feed them the right food and everything but I read you should also show them to each other everyday, how do you go about that?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You could put their tanks near enough to each other so they could see each other.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

I would but they are both in full 10gallons on diffeent shelves so I dont think I could do that. I could put on of them in a bowl when I want them to see each other and put that near their tank but that might be a bit stressful. They might be able to seee each other now though if they tried hard enough. Their tanks are about a foot away and her tank is maybe 5 inches higher and to the right.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I think what I would do is to put her in a vase and put it into the breeding tank and let them see each other for a few days. This would be after you condition them. Then, hopefully, during this time he will build his bubblenest.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Alright thats what I tried last time, but the site said to let them see each other a few minutes at a time throughout the whole conditioning so I wasnt sure. I want to make sure I do it absolutly perfect this time.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I conditioned them for about a week. Then put the male in my fry tank with my female in a vace in the middle and conditioned them for another 2 days or so.....


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

My book says that 2 or 3 days after you put him in the breeding tank, you can put the female in a quart jar (in your case, a vase) and put it in the tank with the male. Hopefully, he'll already be working on a bubblenest before you put the vase with her in it, in the tank.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Did you already have your bettas for a while before you conditioned them though. Because Im sure yours were already pretty well fed/conditioned before you started your conditioning, my male is fresh out the petstore so it might take him the full 2 weeks, might not though.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Ohh and while I have a thread, does anyone know a more efficient way to feed frozen brine shrimp to your bettas. I put a small chunk in a cup of tank water and stir it until it thaws but I cant get it from the cup to the tank without overfeeding or wasting a bunch. Also, how long can the shrimp in the cup stay "good" like not rotted and stuff.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

No! I bought me pair (Pearl+Nepolean) at petsmart. And as soon as I got them I started their conditioning....They had no problem eating....so I was lucky


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I never feed frozen dried bbs. I just feed sun dried bbs.. and bloodworms..


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Ionballer, get a medicine dropper to drop the thawed food into the tank. All you need is to chop off a tiny chunk and thaw it out in tank water.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Ahh, crowntail your so lucky, mine eats some of his food but I cant tell if hes getting it all. Where did you find sundried bbs, is it healthy for them and everything??? Ohh and I like the "Many Fry" addition to your sig  I hope they all grow up nice and big.

Ohh and I will try a medicine dropper, how many of those shrimp should they get?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I don't know how big the frozen ones are. The freeze dried ones are pretty big so I cut one in half.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I know. I found it at petsmart! 
And yes it is healthy. It helps their digestion!:]
Haha! Thanks
I hope so too!
What are you feedin them now??


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Yes the sun dries are big as well. You will need to cut them in three's


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## LizEgan (May 17, 2009)

He is gorgeous!!! His colors are amazing!! I never see bettas like that at my local Petsmart.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

dried*


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

They arent very big but they might be big for them each one is maybe about as big as these to dashes --

Do you have any pictures of your parents crowntail I still havent seen them.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I know! He is amazing. 
He would have made beautiful fry! :]


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Oh thats not bad......
What all are you feeding them?


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Up till now Ive still been giving them three bio-golds 2x a day but starting tonight Im going to start pellets in the morning and brine shrimp at night.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You can also feed them freeze dried or frozen bloodworms.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Ive got some freeze dried bloodworms too...I forgot about them because they didnt go too well with Snowflake.

Do you guys know where other forums get those betta cartoons in their sigs


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

That sounds like a great plan!! :]
uhhh? no...


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Try spwning again (if you want to), if he fails on the third time he is a failure, but he is awesome lookin to


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Lol, they have little cartoons like these on another forum I visit.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I think I know which forum those came off of. If its the one I'm thinking of, those guys have too much stuff on their sigs.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

It was ultimate betta they know alot about breeding so I get their help too.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yes, they have a great breeding section. There is one lady on there who knows just about everything about breeding and she's the one who answers most of the questions.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Pam S, she helped me alot.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yes, thats who I'm talking about. She's very good and has a lot of experience. She'll walk you through the entire thing, from start to finish.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Ion-Do you not have a name for your female??


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

crowntail lover said:


> Ion-Do you not have a name for your female??


Sadly no :shake:


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Well what color is she? Maybe we can help you out! ;]


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

A dark navy blue


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Then name her Navy!! hehe.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

crowntail lover said:


> Then name her Navy!! hehe.


I was thinking about that, I also typed Navy into a English/Spanish translator and the word for navy is marina so I was considering that too, or maybe even shorten that to mari or mary, I dont know I hate naming things, my cats are named Jingles, Stinky, and my dog is Tator Tot. Not the best names.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I like Marina.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Haha! I like those names! :]
My dog is named Yankee
Horse is named Prince
And my rabbits are named Thumper and Delilah


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I like Marina


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

My cousin had a beagle named Yankee years ago.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

haha. Thats kool! We named him after the Yankee's bball team.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Yah I like Marina too, I think I shall call her that...Marina


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Great!!!! It suits her! :]


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Great!  I'm glad we got a name for her. My cousin also had a dog named Rebel so they had to have a Yankee. lol


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

crowntail lover said:


> Great!!!! It suits her! :]


Yah, it is spanish for the color she is and it has the word "marine" in it.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Haha! Thats funny...Did they fight??? jk


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I love it!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

No, I don't think so. Rebel was kept penned up. He was kind of mean, if I remember correctly. Yankee was a brother to my beagle, Ruffy and they used to play together until Yankee got run over.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Oh I am sorry!! :[


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Thanks. It happened over 40 years ago, though. lol


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Sooo, it turns out my boy snowflake built a nice healthy looking bubblenest today, first one he built in a non-breeding tank. It is also alot better looking than his last one. The other one were big lopsided bubbles, this one is made from the tiny foam like bubbles your used to seeing. I noticed he had been blowing random bubbles around the tank, I thought he was just being silly but now there all together. 

Question is, which male to breed. My snowflake failed last time so I dont know if I should try him again, and I already bought a new male for the main purpose of breeding. But snowflake is considerably more beautiful and I always wanted his babies. And if he has a bubblenest already built does that mean he would be ready for breeding now or should I continue the last week of his conditioning, he had already been receiving good food his whole life like 6 bio-golds a day, but I just started the brine shrimp this passed weekend.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Is it a pretty good sized bubblenest? Kind of thick?


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Its ok, it wasnt built under anything so I popped a few when I mashed my knee on the counter :roll:

It extends about 3 inches in all directions from the corner, except for a VERY thin layer that outlines the tank, in the corner against the wall it is about 1/4" to 1/2 " tall and pretty thick.

Heres the best pics I could get, when I lean over the tank he thinks Im feeding him and I didnt want to lead him into his own bubbles.

Above shot:









Corner shot:


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You could try it. Show him the female and see what happens. That SHOULD make him blow even more bubbles. Is she still full of eggs? I don't know if the nest HAS to be built under something, necessarily. I hope your knee is ok.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> You could try it. Show him the female and see what happens. That SHOULD make him blow even more bubbles. Is she still full of eggs? I don't know if the nest HAS to be built under something, necessarily. I hope your knee is ok.


I dont think she is still full of eggs, I cant really tell anymore because she has a fat belly and her pearl shows all the time, last she got eggs when I put her in the vase. The problem is right now they are in their normal tank not the spawn tank because I wasnt planning on starting anything until atleast this weekend. If I were to move them into the other tank would that mess everything up, I was thinking about putting snowflake in the spawning tank and letting him make another bubblenest until this weekend, then I could put the feamale in and continue the rest. But I dont know if hed still be interested.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

What size tank is he in? You might be able to spawn them in his tank but you'd have to have a place to move him to afterwards.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

It is a ten gallon divided in 2, but it has gravel substrate and a pretty strong filter. I could probably remove them but it might cause as much damage as moving him. 

And I have Kingdras 10g I could divide, and a spare 1g bowl and 2g critter keeper as a temporary setup.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yeah, you don't want to ruin the bubblenest. I guess just go with your original plan. Hopefully he'll build another nice nest.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> Yeah, you don't want to ruin the bubblenest. I guess just go with your original plan. Hopefully he'll build another nice nest.


Yah, I guess we'll see around saturday whats up.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I hope everything works out for you.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Full of eggs, ALL females produce eggs, whether theyre fat or not. Actually full of eggs (in my opinion) is a problem.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

My book says that during conditioning, the female becomes wide with ripened eggs. The eggs are released and fertilized during spawning.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

So my new male Kingdra also has a small bubblenest going in the corner. I gues these little men really love these new brine shrimp. Anyway, will my snowflake use Kingdras bubblenest or atleast build on to it or do they know its not theirs?


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Thats PERFECT!!!!!! I dont know though........What have you been feeding him???BBS and Pellets???What else??


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Sorry. Ion you have to see...
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettasd&1242978251


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

I feed them all 3 pellets every morning and a few brine shrimp at night...


That betta has the longest, fullest fins Ive ever seen, and it is soo cheap. I want it, you should buy it for me...lol


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

So I think my plan is to take the spawn tank and try to lower the water level to 4-5" without killing Kingdras nest, then take out kingdra and put in Snowflake (putting Kingdra in snowflakes old cage). Then wait a few days to see if snowflake will add on to the existing nest, or blow his own if I destroy it. Then I can introduce the female in the vase like normal and continue from there.

Sound good?


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Thats sounds like a pretty good plan to me....But what about your other male??


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

haha. I am thinking about buying it myself!!! So haha..


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I have heard of breeders "borrowing" another male's nest if the one they want to breed is too lazy to build his own. It could work.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I think i would......
Drama check out that link I posted...


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

it* haha


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Beautiful fish!!


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I know........
Hey, 
what do you think about putting ghost shrimp in with my females??? Pearl, Arriel, And Penalipie??
Pearl likes her snail, but I need something more useful for cleaning. Arriel is llazy so Idk, and from what I have seen, PEnalipie is a kind little angel


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Crowntail, if you buy that you are going to have to hurry up and make some babies with it, lol...carry on those beautiful genes.

And as for my other male, hes going to be ready incase Snowflake decides to be lazy again. If not and Snowflake gets me some babies then he will have to wait the month or so until I try again.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Ohh and as for ghost shrimp, if your females are nice and let you get one the you deffinitly should, I actually think my one ghost shrimp is funner to watch than my 3 neons. I dont know how good at cleaning they are though, they will pick up alot of the leftover food but they make their own waste, and as far as I know they dont clean algea or anything. But they are still awesome so you should get one.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

haha! I was just kidding...I dont need another...lol...But for the record: he is WANTED...lol
Yep...I am doing that to Nepolean....I am going to try JAsper and Arriel inthe next week or two. As I have ordered all new suppliesAnd the sister is never coming in agian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The door will be locked..


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I guess I will be getting three then maybe 6...haha. 
I know they dont clean but the do eat what my picky monsters dont!! haha


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I don't blame you for locking the door.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

How old is your sister anyway?

Does anyone know when culturing infurosia if a lid is good or bad. I got the tank water in a jar with a piece of lettuce an a small peice of my live plant because it should already have some infurosia.

Edit: I just noticed asking for your sisters age made me sound like I was hitting on her or something, lol, I just want to know because I have an 18 year old sister and I could see her doing something like that.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

lol. Okay I have read some stuff on other webs...and it says that you can breed in a 5 gallon and let the fry live there for about 3-4 weeks and then move then to a growout tank.....Well I am thinking about doing this....Because to me it seems a bit easier to keep clean if you have a couple of plants in a bare 5-7 gallon tank for the fry...


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

She is 12.......Uhh. 
I might try that!!!
So Arriel is in a plastic cup from Wal mart right beside Jasper (for tonight) I will then put her back in her ten gallon beside Pearl when I wake up.....I am starting the conditioning tomorrow, and will but checking out stores for a smaller spawning tank...


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Actually, a larger tank is easier to maintain than a smaller one because you have less frequent water changes. A crowded tank inhibits fry growth.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

haha. Arriel is putting on a game....She is freezing and floating up to the top everytime Jasper shows of to her...Lol


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Yah that would probably work. I think dmhalfmoon on here breeds in 2g's sometimes and then moves them like that. Personally I would rather use a 10g because my Petco sells them cheaper than 5g's even 2g's, so more room for less price just sounds like a win to me


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Go with the 10 gallon.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Well. I dont know.......Dmhalfmoon stated that she bred in a 2 gallon then moved when the fry were 3 weeks old....My first spawn in the 10 gallon made alot of work for Nepolean because they were falling all over the tank...And If I use a 5 gallon dont you think it would help the male keep the babies healthy by blowing them up into the nest.......
Also I bought a new book by Robetr J Goldsteain. He stated that most breeders he has come across bred their bettas in a smaller tank then mover the fry into a bigger growout tank


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

And I also had the worst time tryong to get that tank clean...


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

I say if you can get your hands on a 10g use that, but if you cant get one or it would makeit more difficult then go ahead and use the 5, how many fry did your last pair have?

Remember at 3-4 weeks they are still kind of small so moving them might cause issues.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You can control the amount of fry you have by removing the female before all her eggs are released and fertilized.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

IonBaller07 said:


> I
> 
> Remember at 3-4 weeks they are still kind of small so moving them might cause issues.


I agree.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

OKay okay!!! I give uppppppp......I will use the ten gallon...uhhh
And the fertilized about 80+ possibily 100....
Do you think I should put Arriel back in her tank with Pearl, because I dont want her to be stressed all night..


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

As long as they are separated they should be fine.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Wow, 80-100 they are probably gonna need all of that 10g, lol. I dont know about putting her back. I left my girl in her vase with the male swimming all around her all night, well alnight and all day. She didnt get stressed (well she didnt show it atleast).


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I will be putting her back in her tank.....Sorry but she was looking stressed. She doesnt like small containers. She was going nuts but she never showed a stress line...


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I had her in the walmart cups that you buy the bettas in beside Jaspers vace....I dont think she is happy with me. But know she is swimming around her tank just fine....But JAsper is flarring at me now...He is mad...


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I just read in my book that females can be spawned every two weeks. I think that question came up a while back.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Yes Ion asked.......


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Drama....Does your bettas ever stay around their heater


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Thanks Crowntail, I THOUGHT someone asked! lol


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Is that only succesful spawns or does that include attempts?


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

My Kingdra spends alot of his time around the heater, and the bubblenest he blew is actually connected to the heater, would that cause an issue for the fry?


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

No...Not a issue with my fry.....
I was just asking because Arriel stays around her heater A LOT!!!!!!!!!! 
She is by it right now.....And sometime she wont move but maybe tilt her noise to the surface...


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

The book didn't say. I would think every 2 weeks would be too stressful for the female.Out of curiosity, did either of you leave the lights off during your attempt at spawning? My book says low light reinforces breeding behavior.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

IonBaller07 said:


> Is that only succesful spawns or does that include attempts?


What are you talking about???? :-?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

No, mine never hang around their heaters.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :]


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Well. Idk then....Should it be somthing I should worry about??


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I don't know. Just keep an eye on her.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

She has been doing it ever since I put the heater in there. But it always seems to be at night...Maybe she just likes to be warm when sleeping...


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

If its only at night I wouldn't worry about it. Mine have certain places they go to at night. Rusty sleeps under his bridge! Its so cute.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

lol. I believe Penelipie sleeps in her recked ship...


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

lol


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Aww...mine just chills on his gravel and sometimes lodges himself in a plant.

Snowflake is a big fatty, he saw me coming in to feed him and rocketed to the top of the tank, went stright through his bubblenest. Now the nest is floating aimlessly around the tank.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Well, that silly boy! lol


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## ninjaboyjeff (Jun 2, 2009)

Woowwwiee! Your fish looks awesome! 

I want one like that so badly!


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

IonBaller07 said:


> Aww...mine just chills on his gravel and sometimes lodges himself in a plant.
> 
> Snowflake is a big fatty, he saw me coming in to feed him and rocketed to the top of the tank, went stright through his bubblenest. Now the nest is floating aimlessly around the tank.


:bluelaugh:


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