# Grizzle and bubbles spawn



## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

So originally I told myself I wasn't going to start this spawn log until at least a week after the fry hatched. But I got some bad news and needed a distraction that would keep me busy, plus I'm hoping if anything goes wrong someone might be able to help along the way because I don't want a repeat of last time. 

So here I go!!

*Friday, August 17, 2012*

Around 5pm I put both male and female into the tank using the shock method. These two beat each other up pretty bad last time so I kept a close eye on them. Funny thing though, grizzle had bubbles follow him for 5 minutes straight going around in circles. So I was no longer very worried. 

At 6 I watched them wrap! There was no bubble nest, but they wrapped.. and wrapped.. and wrapped.. then bubbles ate the eggs... and they wrapped! All I could think was "Ahh!!! stop eating my eggs!!" She didn't do that last time, so I turned the lights off hoping it would calm her down. 

Fell asleep, and woke up at 8 to find bubbles on the other side of the tank and grizzle chasing her away. It was time for her to come out he demanded! Still no bubble nest but sneaky grizzle has eggs propped up along the edge of the foam cup that's floating inside. Not a lot of eggs since bubbles has eaten most of them... but there's eggs regardless!

Not sure if you can see.. but this is the cup with the eggs propped up on the side. 









Here's grizzle showing his torn fins. I wont lie his fins weren't fully grown back from his tail biting tantrum. But he was healthy, no fin rot and a LOT of fin regrowth that came back quickly, so the damage isn't as bad as I thought.









Bubbles on the other hand I am scared for. On one side of her belly she looks as if she is swelling a bit. He nipped her pretty good that shes missing a few scales.. in fact one is still half off. But shes swimming fine, and eating like a little pig so she is in clean water with AQ salt being watched closer by tiger (my cat which sticks to my side 24/7).
Bubbles good side:









Bubbles bad side:









The top of bubbles showing one side poking out more:









I don't have live plants in there or IAL since last time it put a lot of gunk on the bottom of the tank which made me paranoid to the point I didn't sleep for a week! But I have micro worms, walter worms, and banana worms just waiting to be harvested so food is ready and I figured if the eggs weren't fertile that grizzle would have eaten them by now so hoping for the best!


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Sunday August 19, 2012*

It's 12:20am and I was just doing some finishing touches to pewe my latest rescue new tank when I noticed that Grizzle was a bit more active than normal. Taking a flash light I saw a small egg with a tail drop down! They are hatching surprisingly quick. 

Since it's a small spawn he isn't freaking out trying to catch them all.  I believe he is actually enjoying himself now that he has something to do. It's getting close to the time where I lost my last spawn so I'm a little nervous.. I hope nothing happens this time. 

On a note about bubbles, she is healing pretty well but now instead of having a clear tummy like normal it has turn black.. I'm not exactly sure if that is normal.. so shes still under a watchful eye.. But still acting healthy and eating like a little piggy so there's no signs of stress or anything.


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## Tyler (Jul 29, 2012)

Congrats


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Tyler said:


> Congrats


Thank you


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Monday August 20, 2012*

Happy birthday to the 1 day old fry!! Our next goal, a week!

They are now 1 day old, I would take pictures if only my camera could actually focus on them. We did have a random scare from an ammonia spike but am doing small water changes already and hoping that it was a false reading. 

Grizzle has been wonderful with the fry. Due to it being a small spawn he isn't over whelmed and is not getting upset with the water changes that I have done. 

Bubbles has fully healed now! She still has a black tummy on one side of her body.. but she is no longer swollen and all wounds healed up nicely.


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

Maybe the black is a bruise and will disappear in time IDK.
Congratulations on the fry. Sounds like you have everything in hand, although I wouldn't worry about IAL making a mess, that's natural.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Thanks  I'm hoping it is just a bruise, it is slowly going away after all. OFL said the same thing about the IAL.. which I figured that out myself after I noticed there was still stuff on the bottom of the tank. I am completely puzzled with it.

I havent put any food in there and there was nothing that could actually make a mess in there but yet.. there is. So my second guess is maybe somethings weird about my water? 

Testing the theory by getting a really big tub and filling it with water along with putting some plants in it. Going to let it sit for a few days and start using that for water changes. Then see if there is any difference.


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

Happy birthday.


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## Tyler (Jul 29, 2012)

Could you show us a picture of the black part, because my female betta ,who has a cellophane body, has a black stomach where the eggs are. She's been acting kind of odd, so I hope she doesn't have anything :/


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Tyler said:


> Could you show us a picture of the black part, because my female betta ,who has a cellophane body, has a black stomach where the eggs are. She's been acting kind of odd, so I hope she doesn't have anything :/


The black has cleared up a lot so it wont show much in the picture, plus she moves so much its hard to get a good photo. I did notice that when ever she ate a little to much it would show more though.. Also bubbles was still a little eggy when I took her out.. Maybe its when they are eggy? 

Can you try to explain how shes acting odd? Sometimes its easier to find out if theres something wrong or not by how they are acting instead of signs on the body. If I ever find the black come back on bubbles tummy I will try to get a photo for you.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Tuesday August 21, 2012*

We have free swimmers! I noticed grizzle wasn't under the half cup as much and decided to check on the fry. They were no where in sight! After freaking out for a few minutes I took a flash light and checked around the tank and found them in groups of 2, some in a corner.. some on the side.. some on the bottom.

I wonder if they are pairing them self's for the future.. hehe

So I took daddy out and added a very very small amount of microworms. I saw two little guys much on them so far.

For those that have had experience with small spawns. How do you make sure the fry find the food? I have 10 fry at the most in a 10 gallon tank... how do I make sure the fry will be able to find the food without over feeding?


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## bettafishfinnatic (Mar 18, 2012)

idk the answer to your question but I know this... HAPPY BIRTHDAY .. I know I'm a little late but better late than never lol congrats on the little boogers hope they survive a weeks worth of living good luck =D


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

bettafishfinnatic said:


> idk the answer to your question but I know this... HAPPY BIRTHDAY .. I know I'm a little late but better late than never lol congrats on the little boogers hope they survive a weeks worth of living good luck =D


Lol thank you  I don't know if it is just me or if they are progressing fast.. Either way im not complaining


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## bettafishfinnatic (Mar 18, 2012)

with the way that you are describing it.. They sound like they are growing fast, bug, dtorng, and healthy soo.. Yep here is some good luck from me (;


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

I can use all the luck i can get, much appreciated  This will be my first successful spawn. I've tried once before with this same pair but lost the whole spawn, still not exactly sure why.. but that spawn didn't even make it to free swimming so I am on my toes with this spawn to make sure everything goes right.


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

To spot feed, you can mix some MW in some tank water, then suck them up in a medicine dropper and place them near each group of fry.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

tpocicat said:


> To spot feed, you can mix some MW in some tank water, then suck them up in a medicine dropper and place them near each group of fry.


Ok thanks! I will give that a try!


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Wednesday August 22, 2012*

The fry just had their first "night" time and so far so good I believe they did well.. I turned on the lights to find them all on the bottom. But they started moving a bit after they realized there was light again. Hoping this is normal behavior. (can someone confirm that is it plz to settle my nerves?)

I did notice one stalking a microworm.. not eating it, just stalking. They are scattered all over the tank now, so I'm hoping once they all wake up they will come back to the top and maybe get back into groups.. it makes it a lot easier that way. Plus I'm so worried about sucking one of them up during a water change. 

I only found one dead fry so far, and yesterday was able to count 9 that I actually saw at one time. Super small amount but happy regardless 

Grizzle is a bit depressed since he cant care for his fry anymore.. but he perks up once in a while when he sees bubbles. He has a bit of fin damage to heal up though. No fin rot or any type of infection so should have no problems with that.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Tyler said:


> Could you show us a picture of the black part, because my female betta ,who has a cellophane body, has a black stomach where the eggs are. She's been acting kind of odd, so I hope she doesn't have anything :/


As promised I got a couple pictures of bubbles with a black tummy after she ate a couple blood worms. It seems to happen when ever she is eggy or over eats a little.. maybe it is the same with yours?

Here are the pics. They aren't the best but it was the best I could do at the moment.


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

The majority of mine are near the bottom. I think they look for food there. I also have them in a 10 gal. I try to spread the mws and bbs around because they don't seem to travel that far to find food. Now that they are getting slightly larger, they larger ones swim farther to find food and there fry at different levels of the tank but still a lot of fry near the bottom.

Tpocicat told me to put nylon stocking over the siphon. It helped me a lot so I don't suck up fry much.

Good luck


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

marktrc said:


> The majority of mine are near the bottom. I think they look for food there. I also have them in a 10 gal. I try to spread the mws and bbs around because they don't seem to travel that far to find food. Now that they are getting slightly larger, they larger ones swim farther to find food and there fry at different levels of the tank but still a lot of fry near the bottom.
> 
> Tpocicat told me to put nylon stocking over the siphon. It helped me a lot so I don't suck up fry much.
> 
> Good luck


Thanks, they seem to come up after 2 hours of the lights being on, so I just wait to feed them then. Although I do the same thing with the food.. I just spread it around. Besides I clean the tank every day twice a day so I get what ever food they don't eat back and replace with clean water. I tried just feeding in groups but with there being such a small amount of fry in a big tank I find that some seem to stay by them self's so I figured better safe than sorry and make sure every one is fed. 

I will probably do the same with the siphon when they get bigger. I'm using a turkey baster right now because im to scared to use anything else. (im such a chicken lol)


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

For small cleaning jobs I use a turkey baster, but for water changes, an air hose with a pice of panty hose on the end is faster as well as keeps you from sucking up the little ones.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

tpocicat said:


> For small cleaning jobs I use a turkey baster, but for water changes, an air hose with a pice of panty hose on the end is faster as well as keeps you from sucking up the little ones.


I know its faster, I'm just to chicken to try it. With the turkey baster I've grown confident with it to be able to clean and do small water changes without being so paranoid. I'm a chicken what can I say? 

Plus I don't mind spending the extra time  I will probably stop using the turkey baster for water changes in a week or 2.. after college classes start building up.


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

Understood


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Saturday August 25, 2012*

So tonight around midnight my fry will officially be a week old! So I am celebrating! Cookies for everyone! LOL. 

So I have been doing small water changes, about an inch maybe inch or two once per day since there aren't many fry in there but I noticed that most of the moisture disappears as I am in the middle of the water change.. So either I will have to suck it up and put my big girl undies on and stop using the turkey baster or do smaller water changes through out the day. 

We have one fry that is bigger than all already! I have officially named him Monster lol! If it is a girl she will be named Monstina! I even had one fry swim all the way from the other side of the tank up to me and stare at me... I think we stared at each other for at least a minute before he finally swam away 

More good news! I randomly somehow got duck weed growing in my giant tub of water with live plants outside that I use to hold my water for water changes! As to how I got it.. I have no clue. Mom is saying that the spirits or as others call them Angels have given it to me as a congrats gift. ^_^

Scary news though.. I don't know if any one has been watching news but that hurricane out there is heading in my direction. :S I live in Florida so it will be nudging us, thankfully isn't going over us! But they are saying that the storm could be bad enough that we may lose power. *cries* which means my fry wont have a heater if that happens! If any one has any advice on what I should do if this happens I would greatly appreciate it. I just hope it really doesn't happen...


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## meiperfectneina19 (Aug 15, 2012)

Forgive me if this sounds like a bad idea... but... why... why is it a problem if your fish are without a heater when you live in Florida? Aren't the temperatures high enough? Isn't it tropical or near tropical and summer? I mean I could understand if you had an AC on, but if there is no electricity there wouldn't be any Ac either...


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Lol I'm not surprised to be asked that, but its only around 77 here right now, and when it rains it will get cooler, or at least it normally does. Florida is more of a bipolar weather than it is hot and sunny like a lot of people think. 

But even when its 77 out the water temp tends to get a bit cooler because my room doesn't get a lot of sun since we have a lot of trees so it gets even cooler. Also it's only the fry that I am worried about, I know my bettas can handle it, they wont be happy but they can.. but my fry being so young may not be able to since they are use to 82-84 degrees water.


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## meiperfectneina19 (Aug 15, 2012)

Yeah I just wonder... since I come from Puerto Rico and Florida was always the closest state temperature wise, though I do know it can get quite a bit cooler in winter, but usually back home when a hurricane passes by it is unbearably hot at least the time leading to the storm. 

But I guess I get what you are saying if you are keeping them at 80+ and it might drop to 70 ish.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Yeah it does get hot, well inside the house but never hot enough to keep the water warm enough sadly. Heck I remember when the 4 hurricanes hit back to back... we had no power for about a month! I had gotten so hot I wanted to dive into my aquariums because the water was cool lol. 

Oddly enough though with all the storms we have been getting the past week the temp here has dropped from 90's to 70's. So I can only imagine that it will get cooler once the rest of the rain comes in from Isaac.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

@Kelly; I know this is a bit late but for future reference;
try wriggle your finger or a chop stick at the water surface. Newly hatched fry will group around the vibration (this is how males feed their fry - vibrate pectoral fins to call his fry). When you think most are at one spot, start feeding - try to make their food sink slowly (easier for fry to find/catch). Once fry are used to "feeding time" you can drop what ever food at that same spot.

Vibration method won't work on bigger/older fry.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

indjo said:


> @Kelly; I know this is a bit late but for future reference;
> try wriggle your finger or a chop stick at the water surface. Newly hatched fry will group around the vibration (this is how males feed their fry - vibrate pectoral fins to call his fry). When you think most are at one spot, start feeding - try to make their food sink slowly (easier for fry to find/catch). Once fry are used to "feeding time" you can drop what ever food at that same spot.
> 
> Vibration method won't work on bigger/older fry.


Thank you! I'll remember that for future spawns.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Sunday August 26, 2012*

So my fry have decided to start exploring the tank more and hide in the plants now.. so it makes it much harder to find them. <_> Talk about having anxiety attacks! 3 times already I have thought something happened to them all lol. Having clear bodies doesn't exactly help either..

I went out and got the stuff to make the fry safe siphon today.. Hoping I did it correctly. 

















But I'm wondering.. should I soak it before using it.. or is there anything I need to do before using it for the first time? (only wondering since I read there are things you'd have to do for the sponges on a home made sponge filter,so curious as if the siphon has its own steps needed done)

The fry are getting 3 small meals a day of micro worms with two water changes once in the morning then once at night.. I am considering a smaller water change in the middle of the day when im home. (trying to get a routine going for when school starts. Yay college classes tomorrow!) I might start easing them onto walter worms next weekend or banana worms.. haven't decided yet.


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

Did you know that banana worms are smaller than micro worms?


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

tpocicat said:


> Did you know that banana worms are smaller than micro worms?


:shock: No.. actually I didnt know that.. Guess I messed that up.. I'll add it in with the micro worms from now on then so the little ones can still munch on them. Thanks for letting me know!


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

You're welcome. I once looked it up to help me choose what to feed first, that's why I knew.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Monday August 27, 2012*

"But their so tiny!" was the first thing my mom said after taking her first peek at my little fry LOL! Actually we have a couple that teeny tiny and a couple that are three times bigger.. then a couple that is in between. Regardless they are growing! Since my classes started instead of doing two water changes per day.. I am only able to do one right after I get home. So I have increased the amount of water I change. 

But even with the big water changes it seems only some of the fry are actually growing.. I go through more than a gallon of water a day but maybe there's just other reasons as to why the teeny tiny fry arent growing as much.. hmmmm.

Also I am now feeding them a mix of micro and banana worms! That way if maybe the smaller fry are having trouble with the micro worms, they will have banana worms to munch on. 

So far so good, lets get to two weeks old!


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

The bigger fry is more active, eat more, grow more and produce stunting hormones which stunts smaller fry even more. No worries though, they will eventually grow. Some people remove the bigger ones to a different tank to give the smaller ones a better chance. 

Your siphon looks good. I don't pre - anything, I just use them. If you're worried, soak everything for 24 hours before use. Hopefully that will dilute any harmful chemicals or what ever.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

indjo said:


> The bigger fry is more active, eat more, grow more and produce stunting hormones which stunts smaller fry even more. No worries though, they will eventually grow. Some people remove the bigger ones to a different tank to give the smaller ones a better chance.
> 
> Your siphon looks good. I don't pre - anything, I just use them. If you're worried, soak everything for 24 hours before use. Hopefully that will dilute any harmful chemicals or what ever.


Oh ok thanks  After I read what you said I instantly got up and tried it out for a water change. It's slower than I thought it would be but it gets the job done! 

Also I didn't think the stunting hormone would have taken that much affect since I only have maybe 10 fry at the most.. Guess I was wrong. Maybe I should increase the water changes?


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

As long as they are growing, I wouldn't worry about it. One a day should be enough. That's what I do unless I have a really big spawn.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

+1 tpocicat
I wouldn't worry about water changes .... I mean once is enough. It's just an individual betta thing - some are greedy while others are not.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Oh ok, well I still have to do small changes since I always have to clean up after feeding. No matter what I always seem to over feed a little.. At least it seems that way.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Wednesday August 29, 2012*

I spy with my little eye.......... a little fry! Can you see him too? 


















Ok so they arent the best photos.. but it was the best I could do considering I had my mother in the back ground yelling "not closer!! You'll drop my phone in the water!" Which I wont lie was possible.. I had part of my finger in the water trying to get the phone as close as possible to get the photo. Sadly I couldnt get the biggest either, because monster has decided he really likes staying at the bottom because he knows theres food there lol.

we are half way to two weeks old! Saturday night will be the fry's 2 week birthday! I'm baking cookies to celebrate (ok so im using them as an excuse to ) 

I am thinking about divding a ten gallon and moving pewe over and putting some of the smaller fry in pewe's tank.. its not that big but there are only 3 smaller ones. So question of the day... How do I get the itty bitty fry into pewes tank when ready? Or would it be best to just leave them in the ten gallon with everyone else?


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

IMO, two weeks is too little and fragile to move. Others may have different opinions.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I don't move them by age but by size. I usually move fry after they're 5mm, either net or cup them. But if I have to move 3mm fry, I cup them - trap them in a net then cup them out.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Tpocicat I agree at 2 weeks they do seem to fragile..

I wouldnt be ready to move them for another 2 weeks or so(depends on when I can get all the algae off my divider or buy a new one).. So hopefully they would be an ok size then?


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

When they are a month old, they should be OK to move.


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

i see them! cant wait to see pics or yours as they grow.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Err thinking about moving them is making me nervous now..

marktrc I cant wait either! Well the waiting for them to grow up part. I'm thinking they will all be grizzles since daddy was a grizzle HM and mommy was a pastel cellophane hm.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Friday August 31, 2012*

So just a small update, the fry are doing fantastic!They have cute little round bellies and some are getting big enough to spot with no problems now! We still have one that is itty bitty like a newly hatched fry. So I'm keeping a close eye on that one. If it continues that way I will move the little one into a different tank or float it in a big cup so he has a chance to catch up.

So because I am to lazy to actually measure how big of a water change I am doing.. I took a picture of the markers I have on the tank showing how much lol.










Then a picture of part of the tank while I filled the floating cups with new water.










I know the cups take a long time.. but I want to make sure the water temp is the same when I actually add it into the tank. So I have about 5 floating cups in there at one time and I use my fry safe siphon to slowly add the water into the cups without overflowing into the tank.

Cute thing happened today! So I was harvesting all the worms today and starting new cultures.. and by mistake added the one with waaaaay to many worms for my fry.. so long story short I over fed. To fix the problem I was doing small water changes all day long and as I did there was a single fry that would charge at the turkey baster every time he saw it! It was like he was saying "stop taking meh food!!!" 

So that was the cute story of the day


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*September 1, 2012*

Happy birthday to fry! Happy birthday to fry! Happy birrrrrthdaaaay to frrry! Happy birthday to fry! 

So my fry are now two weeks old and for their 2 week birthday they got a tank cleaning because grandma (me) was going crazy over the slime build up that was on everything and junking up the tank.... SO I took out the bubble wand and put in a bubble stone then took the heater out for maybe a minute and cleaned it off then put it back. 

Now I have my itty bitty fry that is still the same size as a couple days after hatching... He is floating in the cup and will probably stay there until he catches up a bit.. Will probably give him a couple water changes per day since it's only him and its way to easy to over feed 1 fry.. 

I think there is still one other the same size but every time I spot that one he gets away.. all the rest are close to the same size. So regardless everyone is doing great! Everyone caught up to monster! Now I cant tell the difference.. so much for naming them so soon lol. 

Sadly still not big enough for my camera to capture yet.. I think the day it finally is able to I'm probably going to pic spam this log... lol


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## BettaJen (Jun 7, 2012)

Daaww


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*September 3, 2012*

So while cleaning the fry tank today I got a little annoyed because there was still a slime build up on the sides of the glass making it very hard for me to see.. I took my magnet thingy.. I forgot what it was called.. but I used it to get algae off the glass on my 60 gallon.. I used the opposite side that I normally use to move it and used that side to get the slime off. Boy was there a LOT! But now I can see my little babies again 

I also tried my best to get photos just for the heck of it.. probably not that good but were getting there!














































I did notice one smaller fry had a black belly... not sure what caused it but the fry acts completely normal so I'm wondering if maybe he ate a itty bitty baby mosquito larva? It's the only thing I could think that might cause his belly to be black compared to all my bigger fry with pinkish bellies.

Itty bitty is still in his cup and so far so good!


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

They look good. Nice and fat.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

marktrc said:


> They look good. Nice and fat.


Thank you, they are my adorable chubby little babies. Itty bitty on the other hand is a work in progress.. but I am sure he will be the same in no time  

It's really fun watching them now because it looks like they are bouncing on their bellies lol


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*September 4, 2012*

Ok so I am mega tired from school and water changes on my betta boys/bubbles. Now I am working on the frys tank as we speak then off to do homework! 

So I've spotted monster.... or at least I think I did.. you can only tell it's him when everyone is turned to their side. His fins are a bit bigger than everyone else so that is the only way I am actually able to tell.

Itty bitty is the official name for itty bitty.. The name stuck since he is so tiny compared to all the others. I fear if I do put him back in his growth will be stunted so much that the others will get big enough to eat him! So he is staying in his cup until he gets bigger.. and if he doesn't then.. I'm not sure.  Guess I will be feeding him micro worms forever! 

My mother is thinking the fry with the black tummy is taking after bubbles.. because when she eats a lot her tummy turns black the exact same way! So that will be a bit interesting to figure out now wont it?

Also is it 28 days or 28 weeks when they start breathing air...... I cant remember.. but I remember 28! Guess I will just have to be extra careful...

A total count of the fry including itty bitty is 13! Such a small spawn, but completely grateful since this is my first successful spawn. 

Counting down the days as they get older!


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

28 days before they breathe air is more like it. Your fry look really good. I know it's hard, but keep up the good work.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

tpocicat said:


> 28 days before they breathe air is more like it. Your fry look really good. I know it's hard, but keep up the good work.


Thank you for confirming that and I'll try my best  Although I think I found a dead fry.. one of the smaller ones :/ but it was hard to tell because it was completely black. 

But all the others are doing good!


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

It's normal to lose some of the fry. That's one of the reasons they have such large spawns.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

tpocicat said:


> It's normal to lose some of the fry. That's one of the reasons they have such large spawns.


I know, I just hate seeing it happen since I had a small spawn in the first place.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*Sunday September 9, 2012*

So my fry are now 3 weeks old since yesterday! Sadly itty bitty did not make it, I guess there was a reason he was not growing after all. These things happen.. I have 11 healthy fry and the one with the black tummy is now the biggest out of all!

He went from the smallest to the biggest hitting a growth spurt! The fry are making me so proud. I switch up their meals now from a mix of banana worms and micro worms to walter worms and micro worms. I want to try giving them some bbs but I wouldn't have a way to harvest them. Since what I use to use is now broken and no store near me wants to sell a net small enough.. 

I'm basically doing water changes every other day now since the water change is a big one, but I still clean the tank as much as I can with the turkey baster every day as soon as I get home from college. In a week they will soon be 28 days old, so I am practicing how I will do water changes without letting the moisture in the tank get out. So that will be interesting......


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

Aw that's too bad about itty bitty. Sounds like you are doing good with the rest though. See if you can find decapsulated bbs eggs. You just feed them directly. No hatching. Much easier but messy because they eat it and spit out something. It leaves a fine powder on the ground that I siphon out almost everyday.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Sorry about itty bitty.

How a friend hatches and harvests BBS:
BBS are hatched in an up side down plastic soda bottle. The cap is attached to a 10cm tube. Insert a valve on this tube. When hatching, this tube is attached to a pump tube - full thrust. When harvesting, close the the valve. Remove the pump tube (including the connector). Prepare a net (DIY) made out of regular hanky cloth. Shine a flash light at the bottom so BBS gathers there. Open the valve to pour BBS into the cloth net. Rinse and feed to fry. 

Most Pet store nets are too big (the holes/mesh) for newly hatches BBS.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

marktrc said:


> Aw that's too bad about itty bitty. Sounds like you are doing good with the rest though. See if you can find decapsulated bbs eggs. You just feed them directly. No hatching. Much easier but messy because they eat it and spit out something. It leaves a fine powder on the ground that I siphon out almost everyday.


I have been looking into those but I would have to wait until my financial aid comes in (about 2 weeks) before actually ordering any. Thanks for the suggestion though!


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

indjo said:


> Sorry about itty bitty.
> 
> How a friend hatches and harvests BBS:
> BBS are hatched in an up side down plastic soda bottle. The cap is attached to a 10cm tube. Insert a valve on this tube. When hatching, this tube is attached to a pump tube - full thrust. When harvesting, close the the valve. Remove the pump tube (including the connector). Prepare a net (DIY) made out of regular hanky cloth. Shine a flash light at the bottom so BBS gathers there. Open the valve to pour BBS into the cloth net. Rinse and feed to fry.
> ...


I'll have to look into that, it sounds cool!


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

* September 13, 2012*

So sad news today.. As I was doing my morning clean up I found 2 dead fry  One did not show any signs of anything wrong with him.. the second one on the other hand looked as if someone took a big bite out of his head! Or his head exploded......... Not sure whats going on but i' going to do a BIG water change today just in case. All the others seem to be healthy though, no ick, no velvet.. I'm hoping no internal parasites. 

This saturday they will be 28 days old and hopefully getting their first taste of air. I'm just hoping nothing else goes wrong.. If anyone knows what could have caused this with the fry's head I would much appreciate any info given.


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

The bigger fry may be eating the smaller fry, that's what I would think if that is what I saw in my tank.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

tpocicat said:


> The bigger fry may be eating the smaller fry, that's what I would think if that is what I saw in my tank.


If they were the smaller ones I would have thought that my self.. but sadly they were both one of my bigger ones. I only have one big one and the rest are on the small side. That's why it worries me. :/

Another thing I noticed when I compare my fry to others is that my fry STAY on the bottom.. not swimming around very much. So I dont know what is going on....


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

Sorry about your loss of fry. Is it possible that they died of something then something else ate them like snail or shrimp? My fry mostly stayed at the bottom till recently. At some point as they grew, they decided to swim more and at all levels of the tank.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

marktrc said:


> Sorry about your loss of fry. Is it possible that they died of something then something else ate them like snail or shrimp? My fry mostly stayed at the bottom till recently. At some point as they grew, they decided to swim more and at all levels of the tank.


No shrimp or snails.. I've been waiting for my lps to get more snails since the last batch they had didn't look to healthy. Although I do feel a little better about fry still being at the bottom at this age, I was worried they had sbd.

At the moment I am cleaning little by little to keep the moisture in the tank. By the time I'm done with it there wont be a speck of anything except clean water and cute fry with live plants!


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*September 15, 2012*

My fry are now 28 days old! Haven't lost anymore fry (thankfully!!) and everyone is looking super healthy! The biggest fry got his first taste of air 2 days ago and I was so happy when I saw it! Now he swims around the floating cups when I do water changes, it's so cute to watch! All the other fry are a bit smaller than him and haven't exactly gotten to this stage yet but its progress! 

I don't know if it's to soon to tell what the fins will be this early but I got a good look at the biggest fry, looks like either delta or super delta. Which doesn't surprise me, in fact I expected it!

Only bad news is that my tub that I was ageing water in for the fry got infested with mosquito larva.. I tried feeding a lot of them to my adult fry but there was just to many! So I had to dump it out and refill it.. I got water for a water change tonight so we should be good for a day or so.. 

But besides that so far so good!


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*September 17, 2012*

Whew! Ok, so my little fry have actually been going through a rough couple days because their routine has been messed up due to so much family excitement. My sister in law was taken into the hospital yesterday because her blood pressure kept spiking and feared it would harm the baby. Then they texted everyone saying that she was going to deliver today! Ahh!!!!! So not only is it my oldest nieces birthday today.. but I now have another niece born today woho! 

Due to this though I am getting home very late tonight and have not been able to do a water change for the fry.. and the tank is a little dirty.. which means I gotta get a big cleaning job done tomorrow. But I was able to grab a couple pictures.. not really good ones but good enough lol.

Here is my biggest fry and second biggest behind him facing the wall.. lol:









Then here is a couple of shots I got of one swimming along the side of the tank:

























According to a betta growth chart that I found.. 

http://www.bettatalk.com/fry_growth.htm

The biggest fry is around 4 weeks.. almost the size of 5 weeks which is perfect! The others on the other hand is the size of 3 weeks.. so they are a little bit behind.. as long as their healthy though thats all that matters


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

Looks.good. happy for you.


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

I'm really happy that your fry are doing well. Congratulations on the new niece!


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

marktrc said:


> Looks.good. happy for you.


Thank you


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

tpocicat said:


> I'm really happy that your fry are doing well. Congratulations on the new niece!


Thank you


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

*September 22, 2012*

So the fry are now 6 weeks old!(I had to go back and count because I lost track haha) I have a total of 9 fry and they just got their first taste of bbs this morning. I was hoping to get them a bit more active and off the bottom of the tank.. but that didnt exactly happen. So I might buy some extra plants to put in there this weekend (along with hopefully my snail ive been waiting for since forever!) and see if that will help. But they LOVED the bbs after they figured out it was food lol

My biggest fry seems to be taking after daddy having a powder white body (until he gets older.. and the blue randomly appears!) then we have the second biggest who is showing a dark line along the top of his body. I would say it's blue but he wont get close enough for me to get a good look.. All the others still have a clear body with an orange belly. But they are also smaller so I figured once they get bigger the color will come in.

Also I'm planning to get a new heater and will be switching the fry to another 10 gallon so I wont have to worry about all the scum that built up on the bottom of the one they are in now. So thats going to be well... ok thats going to be scarry for me since it'll be my first time moving them. Tips are always appreciated!


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

How'd the move go?


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

marktrc said:


> How'd the move go?


Sadly it never happened. Almost all the fry got SBD so I had to fast them for a few days.. 2 fully recovered and the rest are slowly progressing..


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## marktrc (Jun 6, 2012)

Aw.. 2 of mine had sbd. When I feed them they would not be able to sink or they would not be able to float. After an hour they were normal. Then 2 weeks later they don't have sbd at all even if I over feed them.

I hope your will recover too.


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## Kelly0727 (Jan 8, 2012)

Sadly I dont think some of mine will recover. I have 2 that dont have sbd, two that has a mild case of it, and then the rest of them are belly sliding 24/7. 

But on the bright side two of them are developing color! I was surprised to see that they both have red on them. Grizzle didnt get red until he matured... In fact he didnt have red until a month or two after I got him!


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